Life Ain't Always Beautiful
by SVUCSIWTRDOOLluver
Summary: This multi-chapter story plays off of the thought I had: what if Boo Radley hadn't been there that night? What if Scout was hurt worse then Jem? How would Atticus cope? This is what became of that thought. Chapter 14 is up! This story is now COMPLETE!
1. Life Ain't Always Beautiful

**Like a lot of stories in this realm, mine started out as a school project, but then I took it and added onto it. My group in English class was assigned to write a fictional story on what would have happened if…and then then we had to finish the sentence and write an essay on it. Our group chose what would have happened if Boo hadn't come out to save Scout and Jem. We wrote the required essay, but then I took it home and put it somewhere. I found it the other day and decided to add onto it, since I had just seen the movie on USA last week. It kind of inspired me, I guess you could say.**

**Anyways, this story incorporates the book and the movie, like Aunt Alexandra isn't in this story. And I'm not sure about a certain part that I wrote about Atticus, you'll see when you get to it, but I think it fits. Oh, and it starts out in the middle of the scuffle between Jem, Scout and Bob Ewell, when Ewell breaks Jem's arm. Sorry for the long author's note!**

**Enjoy!**

Jem screamed, and Scout, entangled in her ham costume, ran towards the sound of Jem's scream. She ran straight into a flabby male stomach, and then felt arms encircle her tightly and squeeze until she could barely breathe.

"HELP!" Scout screamed, and the man shoved her away. Scout stumbled around until she fell to the ground and she twisted, trying to get out of her costume. The man leapt on top of her and she could hear him panting and breathing alcohol-smelling breath on her. "ATTICUS! JEM! CAL! HELP!" Scout shrieked, and the man growled,

"Shut up!" He smacked her in the head and made her feel woozy and a little dizzy. Then a sharp pain in her side brought her back to reality and she yelped in agony. Scout felt that same pain over and over until suddenly the weight was lifted off of her. She laid there in pain and confusion as she struggled to yank her costume off of her, assuming that was what was hurting her so badly. Gentle hands grabbed her and carefully helped her out of it.

Atticus had heard Scout scream in the woods and he immediately leapt out of his chair, bolting down the stairs and running down the road. He could see Jem lying in the bushes and he hurried towards his son's unconscious figure.

Before he could do anything, he saw another man running past him. The strange man threw himself on top of a man that was struggling with a girl underneath him, and Atticus knew it was Scout. The strange man yanked the attacking man off of Scout. The strange man flung the attacking man away and knelt by Scout.

The attacking man got to his feet and lumbered back towards Scout, and in an instant Atticus recognized Bob Ewell. He grabbed Ewell's arm and pulled him away from the strange man and Scout, and Ewell swung something at Atticus's head. In the moonlight Atticus saw the knife in Bob's hand and he grabbed the man's wrist before he could swing it at him again.

"You no good bastard, payback is a bitch ain't it Mr. Finch?" Bob snarled before trying to kick Atticus. They grappled for a few minutes and then Bob managed to pry himself free from Atticus's grasp. They stood apart from each other for a few minutes and then Bob lunged at Atticus. Before he could get very far, however, Scout had managed to push herself up, though she hurt all over and she was wet and sticky on her clothes. She looked around for who had helped her and saw a man that she thought she recognized, but at that moment she had to help Atticus.

She did the only thing a little girl could do: leap up and wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him backwards and choking him at the same time. "Leave Atticus alone!" Scout sobbed, the tears sliding down her cheeks because jumping up had made her hurt even worse.

By this time, a car had pulled up outside of the bushes and a few men were running into the woods. "Get off of me you little bitch!" Bob growled, reaching around and prying Scout off. This act unbalanced the drunken man and he tipped over, falling to the ground with Scout entangled in his arms.

"Scout!" Atticus yelled, and immediately leapt for his daughter. He yanked her off of Bob Ewell and even in the dark he could see the blood that stained her skin and her clothes.

"Atticus…" Scout murmured as he cradled her gently in his arms.

"Doc's on his way," Heck Tate told Atticus quietly, and then glanced at the prone Bob Ewell.

"Can you bring Jem to the house?" Atticus asked Heck desperately, and Heck nodded.

"Take your daughter home, Mr. Finch, and hurry,"

Atticus took off, headed for his house. Scout's head fell backwards as she lost consciousness and he said loudly, "Stay with me, honey, keep those eyes of yours open," Calpurnia had her hands over her mouth as she held the door open for Atticus. He dashed inside and immediately laid her on the bed.

Calpurnia stepped inside as Atticus looked over his daughter's bloody body. "She's been stabbed…" Cal gasped, and Atticus was deathly quiet for a moment before adding,

"Several times."

Just then, Dr. Reynolds came rushing into the room. "Step back, Atticus," He instructed, but Atticus didn't budge. Dr. Reynolds placed his hand on Atticus's shoulder and he added, "I know this is hard, Atticus, but you need to step back, or I can't do anything for her."

"She's not going to die, is she?" Cal asked from the doorway as Atticus gently touched Scout's cheek and then kissed her forehead before stepping back to let Dr. Reynolds start examining her.

"I will do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen," Dr. Reynolds said, and glanced at Atticus's pale face.

"Tend to Jem, Atticus, bring him to a different room and I'll be there as soon as I save Miss Scout over here," Dr. Reynolds said, and nodded to Calpurnia.

"Come on," Cal instructed Atticus, and took him to the porch where a different man was carrying Jem.

"Give him to me, Arthur," Atticus said quietly, instantly recognizing the pale man, but then he saw the blood all over his hands and his clothes. His hands started shaking when he made the connection that it was his daughter's blood on his hands.

Arthur "Boo" Radley just carried Jem inside the house and Calpurnia instructed him on where the place Jem's unconscious figure. Boo then stood in the corner of Jem's room, keeping watch over the injured boy. "I'm no doctor, Mr. Finch, but I think it's just a bad break," Heck said when he stepped onto the porch.

Atticus still said nothing.

"Bob Ewell's dead, Mr. Finch," Heck said quietly, and that got Atticus's attention.

"What?" Atticus said in disbelief.

"I saw the tail end of that fight he and you had, and when Miss Scout jumped him and he fell to the ground, his knife was stuck up into his ribs, and he's dead. He won't be hurting your children ever again,"

"Scout didn't…" Atticus started to say, but trailed off.

"Good Lord no," Heck said, shaking his head. "She never got a hold of that knife. He lost his balance and fell on his knife. Bob Ewell killed himself, Mr. Finch," When Atticus opened his mouth to question some more, Heck shook his head. "A black boy is dead for no reason. Now the man responsible for it is dead. Let the dead bury the dead, Mr. Finch,"

Atticus just nodded as Dr. Reynolds' son pulled up and hurried to the porch. "My mother sent me here to tend to Jem, Mr. Finch, can you show me where he is?"

"I'll take you, Mr. Reynolds," Calpurnia said from the doorway, wiping her tears with her handkerchief. He nodded to the two men on the porch before following Cal into the house.

Atticus slowly sat down on the porch steps. "I can't lose her, Heck," Atticus muttered, dropping his head into his hands. Heck sat down next to him and took his hat off.

"I know, Atticus," Heck replied with a nod, remembering how torn up Atticus was when his wife passed away. Heck knew that if he lost his wife and then his child a few years down the road, he would be laid up in bed, depressed and with no will to live. "Most men would be in bed in your situation right now,"

The two men sat in silence for a long time. Heck knew that his job as sheriff of Maycomb County was technically over, but his duty as a friend was far from finished. He would sit with Atticus all night if that's how long it took for Dr. Reynolds to give them an update. Heck knew that Atticus would do the same for him if the roles were reversed.

They sat there for what seemed like ten forevers, and then the screen doors opened. Atticus and Heck turned around and Atticus blinked. Dr. Reynolds had blood all over his hands and Atticus knew that it was his daughter's blood.

Dr. Reynolds stepped towards them and Atticus got to his feet. "Atticus…I'm so sorry…" Dr. Reynolds started to say, tears in his eyes.

**What a cliff-hanger! In case you couldn't tell, I took the idea that I had for the school essay thing and turned into a total fanfiction story. I added a whole bunch of stuff, which will unfold in the chapters to come. Thanks so much for reading! I hope you liked it!**


	2. Sometimes It's Just Plain Hard

**This is the second chapter! Now the cliff-hanger will be resolved, and we'll discover what happened to poor Scout. I'm really torturing that poor girl in this story, aren't I? Well, I'm also torturing Atticus, if you look at it that way too.**

**Enjoy!**

"No…" Atticus said quietly, denial screaming in his heart while his brain was screaming that his daughter was dead. "No, no, no, no, no," Atticus moaned, and Heck got up and put his hand on Atticus's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Atticus," Heck said, bowing his head.

"I can't…this can't be right…I have to see her…" Atticus mumbled, stumbling into the house like a drunken man. He strode into Scout's bedroom and saw her limp and bloody body on the bed. As he watched her chest didn't rise up and down; her body was as still as death. "Not my baby girl," Atticus all but whimpered as he brushed Scout's hair away from her face. "Please, Scout, please, come back to me, please," Atticus sobbed as he bowed his head and pressed it against Scout's unmoving hand.

Atticus blinked again and suddenly found himself sitting on the porch, with Heck waving his hand in front of his face.

"Atticus? Mr. Finch? You okay?" Heck asked over and over, and then Atticus shook himself.

"What happened?" He asked, and Heck replied,

"You went all rigid for a few moments and you were staring out into space, like you were dreaming or something,"

"Oh, it was just a dream," Atticus said in relief, glancing back at the house. "Has Dr. Reynolds come out yet?"

"No, you were only like that for a few minutes, Atticus," Heck said, looking a little worried.

"All right," Atticus said, getting to his feet and going in the house. He came back out a few moments later with a piece of paper and a pencil in his hand. Atticus sat down in the rocking chair and began writing furiously.

When his wife was on death's door, Atticus was holding her hand when she asked him to write her eulogy. When he asked her why, she told him,

"When my mother was on death's door, she told me to write her eulogy, and make it quick. I finished it within the hour, and my mother lived for a few more years before dying of old age. She told me that when someone is about to die, if you write their eulogy before they actually die, they will survive. It only works once, though,"

So Atticus had begun writing his wife's eulogy, but he hadn't finished it and she died that night. Now, he was hell-bent on finishing Scout's before she could leave him.

Heck didn't ask what he was doing, he just sat there on the porch and told anyone who came by what was going on and what had happened. Atticus just wrote and wrote, and finally he put his pencil down and reread what he had written.

"My daughter was born Jean Louise Finch, but from the moment she was born her mother called her Scout. She never did tell me why, and she never got the chance when she passed away, when Scout was two. The name stuck, and nearly everyone calls…called her that," Atticus had to scratch out the 'calls' and put 'called'. It was a eulogy after all. Then he continued to read,

"Scout was definitely a wild child, but she was my wild child. She was a spitfire and a tomboy; she hated to wear dresses and when she was forced to, usually wore her britches underneath of them. Scout settled her disputes with fistfights, and though I reprimanded her for those, I knew her strong-will would never be tamed, nor did I want it to be. She looked exactly like her mother, and I was grateful because she was a piece of her mother that I thought I could keep forever. But forever never seems to last very long, not in my experience. Scout was the light of my life, and she had the biggest heart of anyone I've ever seen, even for someone so small. She had a heart that was so big, God couldn't let it live. Scout was a firework in all of our lives, a burst of light and hope and goodness, but over as quick as a flash. If I could say one thing to my daughter in this moment, I would tell her that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for your pain, Scout, and I'm sorry for your tears. For all the little things I didn't know, for all the little things I didn't say. Most of all I'm sorry for the way you left us. No one deserves to die like that, honey, especially not you. What hurts the most is that I wish that I had saved you, but I couldn't. I will think of you every day for the rest of my life. I'll never, ever forget you, Scout, never in a million years. May angels lead you in, sweetheart, I love you."

Atticus couldn't end with goodbye, because that was a word that he couldn't write. He couldn't think about saying goodbye to his daughter, he just couldn't.

He folded the eulogy in half and stuck it inside his pocket just as the screen door opened and Dr. Reynolds stepped out. He looked over at Atticus who immediately rose to his feet. "Doc?" Atticus asked bleakly, and Dr. Reynolds sighed.

"It shouldn't be possible, Atticus, I'll tell you that, but Miss Scout is going to be just fine."

"She's alive?" Atticus said quietly, barely daring to hope.

"Yes, and she's going to stay that way. I bandaged her up, and I'll stay here for a while and wait to stich her wounds. She'll be scarred, that's for sure, but she's breathing and she's got a steady pulse."

"She's not awake is she?" Atticus asked, and Dr. Reynolds shook his head.

"No, she's unconscious and she's going to stay that way for a while. I've got some pain medication in my bag if she does wake up soon,"

The three men fell silent for a moment as the sun began to rise over the Finch household, sunlight chasing away the dark for another day. Atticus watched the beautiful sunrise for a second and thought that it was a sign, a sign that the bad had gone away and the good was here to stay, at least for a little while.

"Can I see her?" Atticus all but begged, and Dr. Reynolds nodded. Atticus strode inside and found Calpurnia in Scout's room with a wet rag, washing the blood off of the little girl's hands. Tears were streaming down Calpurnia's face and Atticus gently took the rag out of her hands. "I'll do this, Cal, go tell everyone the good news,"

"Yes sir," Cal said gratefully and ran out. Atticus picked up the rag and gently wiped the blood off of Scout's hands and then her face. He didn't dare try to put clothes on her, since Dr. Reynolds had snipped her dress off and he was afraid of hurting her.

"I'm here, honey, and I'm not going anywhere," Atticus told his daughter, reaching out and brushing the hair out of her face. He too had washed the blood off of his hands, but he had yet to change his clothes.

Mr. Arthur came out of Jem's room when Mr. Nathan came to get him. Atticus got up and shook his hand, saying, "Thank you, Arthur. Thank you for my children. You come visit Scout whenever you want," Mr. Arthur just nodded as Mr. Nathan led him out.

People came and went out of Scout's room for the rest of the day, and eventually Dr. Reynolds came back in and ordered Atticus out of her room so he could stich her wounds up. Calpurnia seized her opportunity and all but forced Atticus to sit down at the table and eat something. When she was satisfied that he had eaten enough to sustain him, she allowed him to go back into Scout's room. He sat there all night, and was surprised when Jem wandered to the door.

"Jem," Atticus sighed in relief, going over and carefully hugging his son.

"I'm not too old to sit on your lap am I Atticus?" Jem asked sleepily, obviously he had just woken up from the deep sleep that Dr. Reynolds had put him in.

"Of course not," Atticus assured his son and gently lifted him onto his lap. "Are you okay, son?"

"I'm okay, Atticus. How's Scout?"

"She's going to be fine, she's just sleeping for now," Atticus said, thanking God for his children's lives. He could feel Jem's heartbeat and he could see Scout's chest rising up and down. Jem ended up falling asleep in his father's lap, and Atticus carefully carried him back to his room.

"I made the guest bedroom up for Dr. Reynolds, sir," Calpurnia told him as he was tucking Jem in.

"Thank you, Cal. Is he here?"

"He went back home to change clothes, he told me that he'd be staying for a few more days, just until Scout is out of the woods."

"When he gets back tell him that I'm grateful," Atticus said as he bent and gently kissed Jem on the forehead. He just watched his boy sleep for a few moments, and then he heard Cal call his name.

"Mr. Finch, sir, Scout's awake and she's thrashing about, calling for you," Cal said worriedly, and Atticus immediately got up and hurried into Scout's room.

"Go watch for Dr. Reynolds," He instructed Calpurnia and saw Scout writhing on the bed, moaning,

"Atticus, it hurts so bad, stop it please!"

Atticus's heart broke as he grabbed onto Scout's shoulders to stop her from moving and reopening the wounds. "Stay still, honey, the doctor's on his way," He begged, and Scout stopped moving, but her eyes stayed closed.

**Yes, Scout's still alive, it was just a dream that Atticus had. The eulogy thing was actually something I believed when I was younger, I thought it was a speech about the person dying that had to be written before the person actually died. I can't remember why I believed that, but it was probably sometime I read somewhere or overheard and misinterpreted. Either way, it made for a interesting part to this story! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you like it so far!**


	3. Life Can Knock You Down

**There wasn't much of a cliff-hanger in the last chapter, was there? And I'm sad to say that I probably won't be doing much better with the end of this chapter, I'm pretty sure it won't end in a cliff-hanger. Ah well. **

**Enjoy!**

"It hurts, it hurts," Scout whimpered, and Atticus pressed his lips to her forehead.

"I know, Scout, I know, and I'm sorry. If I could I'd take your place in an instant," Atticus said frantically as Dr. Reynolds ran into the room with the pain medicine ready. He administered it to Scout and almost instantly Scout's body relaxed and she mumbled,

"Don't leave, Atticus, don't leave me," And then she drifted off into sleep.

"Did she reopen the stiches?" Atticus asked, and Dr. Reynolds did a quick examination before shaking his head.

"No, she's fine. You need to get some sleep, Atticus, you haven't slept in a few days,"

"I've caught a few naps here and there," Atticus said in dismissal, and Dr. Reynolds shook his head.

"If you're not careful, I'll be treating all the Finches," He muttered and then stepped out of the room.

In the morning, Calpurnia walked in to find Atticus asleep in the chair, his hand holding Scout's hand tightly. She smiled as she closed the door and left the father and daughter sleeping. "Are they both asleep?" Jem asked as he walked down the hallway.

"Yes, so don't disturb them," Cal said sternly, taking Jem and steering him into the kitchen. She sat him down at the table and gave him his breakfast. "How is your arm?"

"Much better," Jem said, and Cal gave him some ice to put on it. "Thanks, Cal,"

"You're welcome," Cal said, glancing back as Dr. Reynolds went into Scout's room. He carefully examined Scout without disturbing Atticus and came back to tell Calpurnia that in a few days, Scout would most definitely be out of the woods.

"Is she still going to be in a lot of pain?" Calpurnia asked, and Dr. Reynolds thought about it.

"It depends on how she feels when she wakes up. Depending on her level of pain, I'll either leave some pills or I'll come back a few times and give her a shot for the pain."

Just then, Atticus came into the kitchen. "What was the extent of her injuries, Dr. Reynolds?" He asked, having realized that he never asked that question before.

"She had a mild concussion, bruises all over her body and she was stabbed seven times," Dr. Reynolds said quietly, fiddling with his hat.

"Seven times?" Cal gasped, and Dr. Reynolds nodded.

"Three times in the stomach, twice in the chest, one in her left thigh and one in her right arm,"

"So basically all over her body," Atticus said.

"Yes. I imagine the wounds are haphazard because Mr. Ewell was drunk. If he'd been sober, well he might not've done this to begin with, but if he hadn't been drunk I imagine Miss Scout wouldn't have stood a chance," Dr. Reynolds said as he took a sip of coffee.

"Dr. Reynolds, am I gonna be able to play football?" Jem suddenly asked, looking at his arm. Atticus couldn't help but smile as he stepped over and ruffled his son's hair.

"Yes, Mr. Jem, I do believe you'll be just fine to go out for football," Dr. Reynolds told him, and Jem nodded.

A few days passed, and Scout still hadn't woken up. Everyone in the house was getting worried, although nobody actually voiced their concern aloud. It was around lunchtime when Jem put his sandwich down and wiped his hands off.

"Atticus, can I go sit with Scout for a while?" He asked, looking up at his father.

"Of course, son, go on," Jem got off his chair and walked into Scout's room.

"Hey, Scout," Jem said with a smile, sitting by his sister's side. "I'm sorry I didn't stop Mr. Ewell, Scout. I should've protected you, but instead I got my arm broke and you got hurt badly. I know everyone keeps telling me that it's not my fault, but I can't help but feel responsible. I was supposed to get you home safe, Scout, and that obviously didn't happen. I'm sorry," He bowed his head against Scout's hand and sighed.

"It's okay, Jem, I don't blame you," Scout's voice said quietly, and Jem jerked his head up.

"Oh Scout, are you okay?" Jem asked, glancing at the doorway.

"I feel sore as all get out all over, but I'm okay, Jem."

"Should…should I go get Atticus? Dr. Reynolds? Cal?"

"Might as well go tell the whole lot of them that I'm up," Scout said, and Jem nodded before bolting out of the room, hollering for Atticus.

Scout grimaced as she tried to raise herself up and only gasped in pain for her efforts. "Oh no you don't," Atticus's voice said and he gently pushed his daughter back down among the pillows and blankets.

"It hurts to move, Atticus," Scout moaned, and Atticus petted her hair. Dr. Reynolds came in a few moments later with a needle and gave her some pain medication.

"How do you feel Miss Scout?" Dr. Reynolds asked, taking her pulse as he sat down.

"I feel like someone's used me as a punching bag," Scout muttered, and Atticus frowned.

"You're not far from the truth, Scout,"

"Can you tell us what happened Miss Scout? We've already talked to Jem, but we'd like to hear your side of the story," Heck Tate said from the doorway, having come by to check on Scout's condition.

Scout nodded but held her arms out to Atticus. He carefully wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. "It's okay, honey, no one's going to hurt you, not while I'm here," Atticus said, and Scout nodded.

"We were walking along, and Jem kept hearing something and he kept stopping us. Then I heard it too, and I was real scared. Then I got knocked to the ground, and I could hear a scuffle in the bushes. I heard Jem hollering at me to run, but I couldn't get out of my costume. I was a ham for the school play, you know,"

"Yes, we know all about your famous performance," Dr. Reynolds said with a smile, and Scout colored with embarrassment.

"It's not my fault I feel asleep backstage!" She protested, and Atticus shook his head with a small smile.

"Go on Miss Scout," Heck said, and Scout nodded.

"Well, Jem pulled me to my feet and started shoving me along, but then someone grabbed him. Mr. Ewell I guess, and then he screamed and then I didn't hear anything else. I ran towards the scream and I ran into a stomach, which was probably Mr. Ewell. I couldn't really see with my costume. And then he started squeezing me, and I couldn't breathe and my costume was poking me and it was real uncomfortable. I started hollering for help, and then I yelled for Jem and Cal and Atticus. He told me to shut up and then he smacked me upside the head and I got kinda dizzy. Did you hear me Atticus?" Scout asked, looking up at her father.

"Yes I did, sweetheart, you yelled real loud,"

"Good. Anyways, I felt a little dizzy and then I felt something sharp in my side. I felt it again and again, all over, and I didn't know what it was. I guess that was Mr. Ewell stabbing me with his knife, wasn't it?"

"Yes, honey, it was," Atticus told her, gently rubbing her non-injured arm.

"I kept squirming, trying to get away from Mr. Ewell, and suddenly someone was fighting him and pulling him off of me. Who was it?" She questioned.

"That was Mr. Arthur Radley, Scout," Atticus said, and Scout's eyes grew wide.

"Boo?" She said incredulously, and Heck cleared his throat, wanting her to continue with her story. "Oh, sorry Mr. Tate. Then someone helped me out of my costume and I saw Mr. Ewell going for Atticus. I didn't want Atticus to get hurt the way I was and I jumped up and grabbed onto his neck. I yelled something, I think I said 'leave Atticus alone' or something like that, and then Mr. Ewell said something. He pulled me off of him but then fell down and I hit the ground. I felt someone yanking on me again, but I knew it was Atticus so I didn't fight. I didn't really have the strength to fight back anymore anyways. I heard other people talking, and I heard Atticus telling me to stay with him. And then I don't remember anything else, it all goes black," Scout said curiously, and Atticus held her tightly.

"You're okay now, Scout, Mr. Ewell won't ever hurt you ever again," Heck Tate said, and Scout looked at him.

"Does that mean that Mr. Ewell is dead?"

"Yes, he's dead," Heck said with a nod.

"Did I kill him?"

"No, baby, you most certainly did not," Atticus said immediately, and Scout nodded.

"Why did you tell me to stay with you? Was I going to die Atticus?"

"You very nearly did, Miss Scout," Dr. Reynolds said, and Atticus had to close his eyes for a minute. He carefully let go of Scout and quickly left the room, extracting his handkerchief.

"Where's he going?" Scout asked in confusion, and Dr. Reynolds patted her hand.

"You almost died, Scout, he almost lost his daughter. He was very scared, and he's dealing with that right now,"

"Oh. He's not mad at me? I didn't do something wrong did I?"

"Absolutely not, Miss Scout," Dr. Reynolds said, and Scout nodded, though she was unconvinced. Heck Tate excused himself and followed Atticus.

**Well, I'm really torturing Atticus aren't I? And it's just going to get worse! The next chapter will have Scout cheering Atticus up, and then Jem will come spend some time with Scout, which will involve something with his cast…thanks so much for reading! I hope you're enjoying it so far.**


	4. It Can Break Your Heart

**Fourth chapter has been posted! And like I said, this will have Scout cheering Atticus up, and then Jem will be coming in and spending some time with Scout. It involves Jem's cast…and some markers. **

**Enjoy!**

"You okay Atticus?" He asked, and Atticus wiped his eyes.

"What if she had died, Heck? What would I have done?"

"You listen to me, Atticus Finch, and you listen to me good. Scout is not dead. She's living and breathing and she's in her bedroom very confused at this moment."

"Why?"

"She thinks she did something wrong and you're mad at her, that's why you left. She doesn't quite understand what you're going through right now. She will in time, but right now she just needs her father."

Atticus was silent for a moment and then nodded. "You're right, of course," He said with a sigh and he pulled himself together. He walked back into Scout's room and she looked at him with hesitation in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Scout, I just needed a moment. I can't help think about what if you had died," Atticus said, sitting on Scout's bed.

"Yeah, Jem wouldn't have nobody to pester anymore," Scout said thoughtfully, and Atticus had to smile. "And Calpurnia wouldn't have nobody to eat her leftover cracked bread, and you'd have to read all by yourself and Cecil Jacobs would have to find someone else to scare the living daylights out of," Scout listed off, and Atticus had to laugh.

"Life would definitely be dull without you, Miss Scout," Heck Tate said, and Atticus hugged his daughter.

"So you're not mad at me? I didn't do anything wrong?"

"Most certainly not," Atticus said, resting his head on top of hers.

"That's good. I'm tired, Atticus," She said sleepily, yawning.

"All right, that's enough for one day," Dr. Reynolds ordered. "Everybody out," Atticus made to get up but Scout gripped his arms tightly.

"Will you read to me 'til I fall asleep, Atticus?" Atticus looked at the doctor to make sure it was okay and Dr. Reynolds gave in when Scout begged, "Please?"

"That's fine, Atticus, go ahead and read to her,"

Atticus nodded his thanks and grabbed a book before settling down with Scout resting against him. He began reading, and eventually he glanced down to see Scout fast asleep. Atticus didn't dare move in case he woke her up, so he just placed the book and his glasses on the table and got comfortable. Eventually he drifted off as well.

In the morning, Scout woke up and was disappointed to realize that Atticus was gone. She went to stretch out a bit, but carefully this time, she learned her lesson from the last time she tried to move. This time her fingers came in contact with a piece of paper that was on her bed. She picked it up and brought it to her eyes, squinting at it as she read the first line, "My daughter was born Jean Louise Finch, but from the moment she was born her mother called her Scout."

"Why's Atticus writing about me?" Scout thought to herself, and then shoved the paper under the covers as Calpurnia came in with a tray. She knew it had to be Atticus, who else had a Jean Louise Finch as a daughter who was called Scout?

"Dr. Reynolds said you can have some orange juice and bread this morning for breakfast," Cal said with a smile, setting the tray down and handing the cup of orange juice to Scout. She grasped it in her uninjured hand and allowed Cal to help her drink some of it.

"I didn't realize how thirsty I was," Scout said in surprise when she had drunk the whole glass. Next came the slices of bread with butter on them. Scout ate every little bite of those and Cal was pleased.

"Good girl," Cal said, brushing her hand over Scout's hair before taking the tray back to the kitchen. Jem came into her room next, and Scout saw his cast for the first time.

"Is that was Mr. Ewell did to your arm?" She asked, and Jem nodded as he looked down at it.

"Broke it pretty bad, but the doc fixed it up," Jem said, showing her his cast.

"Can I sign it?" Scout queried, her face lighting up at the prospect. Normally, Jem would've scoffed in her face, telling her that he couldn't wear something that girly to school, but this situation was anything but normal. He'd be proud to wear a cast that his sister had signed to school, at the very least it showed that she was alive and breathing.

"'Course you can," Jem said, and Scout beamed at him. He got up and pestered Calpurnia until she found a marker and gave it to him. "Don't we have any other colors, Cal?" Jem pleaded, and Cal sighed.

"What are you wanting these markers for anyways Mister Jem?"

"Scout wants to sign my cast," Jem said, and Cal smiled at the boy before finding a few more markers and handing them to him. He then scurried back into Scout's room and sat there like a statue while Scout carefully drew little pictures and then signed her name on the cast.

"Don't let nobody else sign this cast, Jem, or it'll ruin my masterpiece," Scout said when she was done, and Jem surveyed the work with a shake of his head. "Don't you like it?" She said, her face falling.

"'Course I do, Scout, I love it," He said, reaching over and tousling her hair. Scout grinned at him and then asked him,

"How much longer can you stay out of school?"

"Dr. Reynolds said a week or so, but I don't wanna be out long or I'll miss important stuff,"

"How much longer can I stay out of school?" She asked then, and he shrugged.

"I don't know. If you stay out too long they don't let you back,"

"Really?" Scout asked, but she was happy about that prospect instead of sad like Jem would've been.

"So you're still raring to stop going to school," Atticus observed from the doorway.

"Yes sir," Scout said with a decisive nod, and Atticus chuckled.

"I like your cast, Jem," He commented, and Scout smiled happily.

"I drew all over it, Atticus,"

"Yes, I see that, I can see your signature," Atticus said as he looked over Jem's cast. "Ah, Dr. Reynolds wants to see you, Jem, wants to examine your injury and determine when you are permitted to return to your education,"

"Yes sir," Jem said and left the room. Atticus smiled at Scout and asked,

"And how is our patient feeling today?"

"Oh, I'm okay until I try to move," Scout told her father, and he nodded. "Atticus?"

"Yes?"

"I found something on my bed this morning, but I'm not sure what it is," Scout said, pulling the piece of paper out from under the covers. "The first line says 'My daughter was born Jean Louise Finch, but from the moment she was born her mother called her Scout'. I figure you wrote it, but what is it?"

Atticus took the paper from Scout and sighed. "This is something I wrote when Dr. Reynolds was saving your life, Scout,"

"I read some of it, it sounded like you were telling everyone about me, like I was dead or something," Scout observed, and Atticus nodded.

"Let me start at the beginning. When your mother was very sick, she asked me to write her eulogy,"

"What's a eulogy?" Scout pronounced slowly, and Atticus explained,

"It's a speech someone reads at a funeral, telling everyone there about the person's life, whoever had passed away, and telling everyone at the funeral how much that person meant to them. Anyways, your mother told me that when her mother was very sick, she asked her to write her eulogy."

"And my mother did," Scout predicted, and Atticus nodded.

"She did indeed, and her mother lived for a few more years. Your mother told me that when someone is close to death and their eulogy is written and finished, they'll survive."

"You didn't finish Mother's eulogy," Scout said quietly, and Atticus nodded again.

"So I was determined to finish yours. That's what this is, Scout, it's your eulogy that I wrote,"

Scout was silent for a few moments, and then she said, "I was going to ask you to read it to me, but you don't have to if you don't want to,"

It was Atticus's turn to be silent for a few moments, and then he straightened the paper out. "My daughter was born Jean Louise Finch, but from the moment she was born her mother called her Scout. She never did tell me why, and she never got the chance when she passed away, when Scout was two. The name stuck, and nearly everyone called her that Scout was definitely a wild child, but she was my wild child. She was a spitfire and a tomboy; she hated to wear dresses and when she was forced to, usually wore her britches underneath of them. Scout settled her disputes with fistfights, and though I reprimanded her for those, I knew her strong-will would never be tamed, nor did I want it to be. She looked exactly like her mother, and I was grateful because she was a piece of her mother that I thought I could keep forever. But forever never seems to last very long, not in my experience. Scout was the light of my life, and she had the biggest heart of anyone I've ever seen, even for someone so small. She had a heart that was so big, God couldn't let it live."

Atticus had to stop and give himself a moment because tears were choking the words from his throat. He bowed his head for a moment and gathered his emotions, putting them in check. Scout could tell something was wrong so she carefully sat up and took his hand in both of hers, squeezing tightly.

**I wasn't sure whether I should have Atticus read the eulogy out loud to Scout, but I figured she'd be curious about it and not quite understand the pain that Atticus is going through, though she does know that he's very sad. The next chapter will involve a deeper discussion about the night the children were attacked, and a surprise visitor makes an appearance. Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you liked it!**


	5. It's Just A Dead End Road

**It's the fifth chapter! This finishes the eulogy, and then Scout, Jem and Atticus talk more about what happened the night they were attacked. And then at the end, a surprise visitor comes in…who could it be?**

**Enjoy!**

"Scout was a firework in all of our lives, a burst of light and hope and goodness, but over as quick as a flash. If I could say one thing to my daughter in this moment, I would tell her that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for your pain, Scout, and I'm sorry for your tears. For all the little things I didn't know, for all the little things I didn't say. Most of all I'm sorry for the way you left us. No one deserves to die like that, honey, especially not you. What hurts the most is that I wish that I had saved you, but I couldn't. I will think of you every day for the rest of my life. I'll never, ever forget you, Scout, never in a million years. May angels lead you in, sweetheart, I love you."

When Atticus finished speaking, he looked down at Scout who was processing what he had said. She carefully sat up and reached for Atticus. He gently pulled her into his lap and hugged her tightly. "I love you too," She whispered, and he kissed the top of her head. "Is that what you would've read at my funeral?"

"Yes, that's what a eulogy is for," Atticus explained as he eased back and gently placed Scout back down among her pillows.

"Atticus, do you have to go to work today?" Scout asked, and Atticus looked at her for a long moment.

"I have been absent from my office for quite a few days now," He began to say, and her face fell. "But I think I can spare a few more days," He finished, and she looked at him with a grin.

"All right, your turn Miss Scout," Dr. Reynolds said from the door. Scout grimaced as Atticus dropped a kiss on her cheek and then stepped out so the doctor could examine her.

"How's Jem's arm?" Scout asked, and Dr. Reynolds replied,

"It's starting to heal. I enjoyed the artwork you drew on his cast, though,"

"Thank you, sir. How much longer is he gonna have to stay home from school?"

"A few more days, why?"

"Well, I know he's wanting to get back, he's afraid he's gonna miss something," Scout informed the doctor, who smiled.

"Yes, I know. He'll be able to go back in a few days. You, on the other hand, have a lot of healing to do," He said as he looked at her injuries.

"Was I stabbed, sir?" Scout asked, and Dr. Reynolds sat back, looking curiously at the little girl.

"Don't you know your own injuries, Miss Scout?"

"Not really, sir," Scout admitted, and Dr. Reynolds nodded.

"Well then, allow me to inform you. Yes you were stabbed, seven times, with Mr. Ewell's kitchen knife. Three times in your stomach, right here," He said, pulling her shirt aside and showing her stomach that had three red gashes in it. "Twice in your chest," He showed her the two ugly wounds in her chest that hadn't been as deep as the others. "Once in your arm, and once in your thigh," He pulled her clothes aside to show her last two wounds and Scout nodded.

"So I have to wait a long time before I can go back to school?"

"I'm afraid so. At least a few weeks," Dr. Reynolds said, and took her pulse. "But you seem to be healing quite well,"

"Are the stabs the reason I hurt when I try to move?" Scout questioned, and Dr. Reynolds nodded.

"A big part of the reason why its hurts for you to move. Another part is because you were tossed around a lot that night, Miss Scout, you're pretty bruised all over,"

"Oh. Thank you, Dr. Reynolds," Scout said as the doctor got up to leave.

"You're quite welcome Miss Scout," He said as he stepped out of her room and saw Atticus waiting for him.

"I believe she's out of the woods. I'm going to go pack up my bag if you don't mind, Mr. Finch, and head back to my family,"

"Of course. Thank you for everything, Dr. Reynolds," Atticus said gratefully, shaking the doctor's hand.

"I'll drop by in a few days to check her healing process. Don't let her move around too much, but she can gradually work up to maybe getting out of bed, but slowly. The main thing to remember is not to let her reopen the wounds," Dr. Reynolds instructed, and Atticus nodded.

Calpurnia saw Dr. Reynolds out of the house while Atticus went to see Jem. "Atticus, you reckon I can go back to school before the end of the week?" Jem asked, and Atticus smiled.

"I don't see why not, as long as you are very careful about that arm of yours,"

"I will be," Jem promised, and then pulled a book from his shelf.

"Where're you going with that?" Atticus asked, and Jem showed him the book.

"It's just _The Gray Ghost_, Atticus, I'm gonna go read it to Scout, I figure she's getting real lonely and bored stuck in that room of hers," Jem told his father.

"Are you sure this is the one to read to her, Jem? Hasn't she had enough scaring for a while, haven't you for that matter?"

"Atticus, I wasn't scared," Jem protested, and Atticus raised his eyebrows.

"I wasn't! Now that I think about it I probably should've been and I am now that I think about what could've happened, but I wasn't then. Scout wasn't neither, I asked her,"

"I'll just go ask her to make sure," Atticus said, heading to Scout's room, and Jem followed.

"Tell Atticus that you wanted me to read _The Gray Ghost_ to you, Scout," Jem said, sitting on Scout's bed.

"I did, Atticus, I did, I like it. It's real scary," Scout said with a grin.

"He keeps thinking we were scared that night with Mr. Ewell," Jem muttered, and Scout protested,

"I wasn't scared, Atticus! I mean sure I hurt and all, but I wasn't scared, not 'til I started telling the story back to you. Besides, nothing's real scary except in books,"

"Hmm…" Atticus said thoughtfully, and then nodded. "All right, Jem, read it to her. But I expect you at the dinner table when it's time in a few hours. Just because Scout has to eat in her bedroom doesn't mean that you can," He said, and then left the room after Jem replied,

"Yes sir,"

"You weren't scared either, right Jem?" Scout said, and Jem shook his head.

"I should've been, though, but all I could think about was getting this horrible man off of me and get you home safe. I figured Atticus would whip me if I'd let anything happen to you,"

"I guess I should say that I was scared when Mr. Ewell had that knife pointed at Atticus, I was just scared he would hurt him."

"Atticus can take care of himself, Scout," Jem said dismissively, and Scout shrugged.

"I know that, but I remember when you wanted him to play football for the Methodists and he kept saying he was too old to play football or tackle or fight, and that's all I was thinking about, that he would get hurt because Mr. Ewell was strong."

"How'd you know he was strong?" Jem questioned, and Scout replied,

"When he had me on the ground and was hurting me, I kept squirming and moving around but his arms felt like steel, I couldn't budge 'em no matter how hard I tried,"

"Oh yeah, I know. He had my arm in his grip and I couldn't shake him loose. It's too bad I missed the rest of the action, I would've liked to see Atticus go at it with Mr. Ewell," Jem said, trying to imagine the fight in his head.

"It didn't really feel like a fight, not like the way I fight with Cecil Jacobs, you know? It felt a lot different," Scout mused, and Jem furrowed his eyebrows.

"Different? Different how?"

"I don't know, it just felt more…more…scary, like somebody's life depended on the ending of the fight," She finished, not coming up with the word she needed to describe how Atticus fighting Mr. Ewell was different from her fighting Cecil Jacobs.

"Oh." Jem said, and then picked up the book and started to read.

Neither of them knew that Atticus had been standing outside the door, listening to every word they said. When Jem started reading the book Atticus pondered his children's words for a few moments and then went to the living room with the newspaper.

A few hours later, Calpurnia announced dinner. Atticus came to the door of Scout's bedroom and Jem sighed, "I know, I know, I'm coming,"

"We have company for dinner," Atticus said, and stepped aside.

"Uncle Jack!" Jem exclaimed, running over and hugging Atticus's brother tightly. "We never see you except at Christmas!" Jem said, and Uncle Jack knelt down to take a look at Jem's arm.

"Well, I'd call these special circumstances, wouldn't you?" He asked, and Jem nodded. "Seems to be healing all right. And I take it this is Scout's artwork?"

"Yes sir," Jem said with a smile, and they both turned to look at the bed, but Scout wasn't on it. She had tried to get off the bed at the sight of her uncle and ended up unable to stand the pain and fell onto the floor.

**I'm getting my cliff-hanger mojo back! So Uncle Jack is back (no pun intended) and life gets interesting. The next chapter will probably resolve the cliff-hanger, and deal with the fallout from that, among other things. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you're enjoying the story so far!**


	6. At The End Of The Day

**Sixth chapter time! And now it's time to deal with the cliff-hanger, when Scout was obviously so happy to see her uncle that she forgot she's severely injured. Uncle Jack and Scout have some bonding time, and Scout receives yet another visitor. And I am so so so so sorry it's taken me forever to post this chapter, but I was studying for finals and trying to stay in the top 10 of my class and that's why I was so delayed. Again, I'm so sorry for the wait!  
**

**Enjoy!**

"Scout!" Jem yelled, and Atticus was in the room as quick as a flash. Uncle Jack carefully lifted Scout up and placed her back in her bed.

"I'm sorry, Atticus, I'm sorry, I just wanted to see Uncle Jack, I'm sorry," Scout cried, tears streaming down her face.

"Shh, baby, it's okay," Atticus soothed, brushing her bangs back as Uncle Jack quickly looked her over.

"She didn't open any of her wounds," Jack told Atticus quietly, and then he wiped his niece's tears away. "You were that anxious to see me, huh Scout?"

"Yes sir," Scout said, and Atticus went to get some of the pain pills Dr. Reynolds left for Scout. He came back with a glass of water and a few pills and Scout obediently swallowed them. Uncle Jack carefully took Scout in his arms and held her tightly.

"Don't scare me like that again, please," Uncle Jack requested, and Scout smiled.

"I'll try not to, sir,"

"Dinner's getting cold," Atticus said from the doorway, and Uncle Jack glanced at his brother.

"If it pleases Atticus I think I'll eat my meal in here with you, Scout," He said, raising one of his eyebrows.

"Well, if you must," Atticus said, but nodded.

"I'll be right back, Scout," Uncle Jack told her, and went out of the room. He brought back both his dinner and hers, and they ate together in companionable silence.

"Did Atticus write to you about what happened to me and Jem?" Scout asked as she sipped her milk.

"Yes, he did, and I'll tell you, I nearly had a heart attack when I read that letter." Uncle Jack told her, and she nodded.

"I reckon everyone in Maycomb did, I was screaming loud enough to raise the dead,"

"Good for you," Uncle Jack praised, and Scout beamed at him.

"How long can you stay with us?" She asked, and he shrugged.

"How long do you want me to stay?" He countered, and she smiled.

"As long as you possibly can," She answered, and he nodded as he took their dinner trays back to the kitchen. When he came back, he pulled Scout against his chest and they were quiet for a few long moments. "Uncle Jack?"

"Ma'am?"

"Can you tell me a funny story?"

"Won't it hurt for you to laugh, Scout?" Uncle Jack said in concern, and Scout shook her head.

"It's just, I haven't had much to laugh at lately," Scout admitted quietly, and Uncle Jack didn't hesitate. He plunged into a long story about a grinning cat who befriended his Rose Aylmer and they had long talks about all the boy cats in the neighborhood. "Cats can't gossip Uncle Jack," Scout said, laughing.

"Oh I beg to differ," Uncle Jack said, and then Jem ran into the room.

"Scout, Miss Maudie's come over to see you,"

"I suppose that's my cue," Uncle Jack said, and rose to his feet. He saw the disappointed look on Scout's face and he brushed a hand over her hair. "Don't worry, I'm not going far,"

He stepped to the door just as Miss Maudie came in. "Ready to marry me yet, Maudie?" Uncle Jack said whimsically, and Maudie swatted at him.

"You are a devil from hell, sir," And then she turned her attention to Scout. "Are you feeling all right, Miss Jean Louise?" She asked in concern, sitting in the chair by Scout's bed and scouring her for any visible injuries.

"I'm okay, Miss Maudie, thanks for coming by," Scout said honestly. "Since I'm trapped in this bed it's nice to have visitors,"

"I'll come visit you every day," Miss Maudie promised with a smile and then glanced at the door. When she was satisfied that no one was there, she reached into her bag and drew out a small cake.

"Did you bake that for me?" Scout all but yelped, and Miss Maudie reached over and placed a finger over Scout's mouth.

"Shh, or Atticus'll be all over me for giving this to you. I think you earned it after the ordeal you've been through. I made one for Jem too, but I'll give him his later,"

She handed the cake to Scout with a napkin. "Thank you, Miss Maudie," Scout said as she took a bite and swallowed. "It's yummy,"

"Well of course it is, I baked it," Miss Maudie said indignantly, and then smiled. "It's not the last one you'll get from me either,"

Scout's face lit up at the prospect and Miss Maudie chuckled. As Scout ate her cake, Miss Maudie entertained her with happenings from the street, like with Miss Stephanie and Miss Rachel getting into a prissy argument.

"What were they arguing about?" Scout questioned.

"About who should get my Lane cake recipe. Apparently both of them can't have it because…you know, I have no idea why they think neither of them can have it, but I'll tell you, Miss Jean Louise, I ain't giving it to either of them, not in this lifetime,"

"What about the next lifetime?" Scout asked, and Miss Maudie looked at her for a long moment.

"We'll have to see, won't we?" She said quietly, and told Scout to finish her cake before Atticus came in and caught them.

Pretty soon Atticus knocked on the door and said, "It's getting close to Scout's bedtime, Maudie, just so you know,"

"I know, I'm going," Miss Maudie said, and dropped a kiss on Scout's forehead. "You get better, you hear? I'll be back to visit you soon,"

"Yes ma'am," Scout said, and watched as Miss Maudie left the room.

"Do you want Uncle Jack to read to you tonight?" Atticus asked, and Scout shook her head.

"I want you to read to me, Atticus, is that okay?"

"That's perfectly fine, honey," Atticus assured her, and he settled on her bed. She relaxed in his arms and listened as he opened the newspaper and started reading it to her. Slowly Scout drifted off, and pretty soon she was asleep in Atticus's arms. He stopped reading and looked down at his daughter, smiling softly when he saw that she was asleep. Carefully he extricated himself from her arms and pulled the blanket up to her chin, tucking her in. With a gentle kiss on her head he left the room, closing the door as he did so.

"If you're staying here a while, Jack, I think I'll head back to the office tomorrow," Atticus said as he settled into his chair. Jack nodded and said,

"I'm not sure how long I'll stay, but I'll be here for at the very least a week, if you don't mind,"

"Of course not, Scout and Jem love having you here," Atticus said as he pulled his newspaper back out and finished reading it.

The next day, Atticus stopped at Dr. Reynolds to ask if he could let Scout take a bath. The doctor told him it was okay, but gave him a few warnings. When he got home, he told Calpurnia to pull the water for Scout's bath.

"Atticus? Am I gonna take a bath?" Scout asked, and Atticus nodded. He carefully picked her up and carried her into the bathroom.

"Cal's gonna help you bathe, honey, but it's going to hurt,"

"How bad?" She asked, wincing in anticipation.

"I'm not sure, but if it's too much you just tell Cal and she'll pull you out of the water, all right? The water hurts open wounds, but it's not a bad thing, it means it's cleaning the wounds," Atticus told her as Calpurnia came into the bathroom.

"All right," Scout said with a sigh as Atticus departed the bathroom and Cal started to carefully undress Scout.

"You go right on and scream if you need to, baby, I know it's gonna hurt and sometimes screaming helps," Cal told her as she checked the water.

Scout nodded as Cal lifted her carefully and placed her slowly into the water. She hissed in pain as the warm water touched her injuries. Cal waited for Scout to adjust to the water and the pain started to go away.

"Are you okay Scout?" Cal asked in concern, and Scout nodded, though her eyes were still tightly closed. Cal began to gently scrub Scout's body, but avoided her chest, stomach, shoulder and thigh until the very end. "This is gonna sting, baby," Cal warned, and started soaping her injured areas.

"Ow!" Scout howled, and Cal said,

"I'm sorry, Scout, but it's gotta be done,"

Scout just nodded and gritted her teeth as Cal kept washing. A few more screams came from Scout's mouth and then it was all over.

While Scout was being bathed, Atticus was sitting in the kitchen, his hands holding the newspaper so tightly his knuckles were white. When Scout started screaming, it was all he could do not to jump up and go help her.

Eventually the torture was over, and Scout was safely tucked into bed, falling asleep within minutes.

In the morning, Atticus left for his office before Scout was awake. Jem was going to be allowed to return to school the following Monday, and since it was already Friday, he was okay with that. Uncle Jack took Jem downtown to have lunch with Atticus and Cal fixed Scout a sandwich for her lunch, and brought it into her room.

When she stepped in the room and looked at Scout, her eyes went wide and she dropped the tray.

**Oh no! Another cliff-hanger! I'm so evil, aren't I? So now Miss Maudie's come to visit, and Uncle Jack is here to stay for a little while. In the next chapter we'll see what the washing of the wounds had to do with the fact that Calpurnia is so scared out of her wits that she dropped Scout's lunch tray. Thanks so much for reading! I hope you like the story so far!  
**

**PS: I've already got half of the next chapter written and it's summer vacation for me so I pinky promise you wonderful readers won't have to wait very long for the next chapter!  
**


	7. Struggles Make You Stronger

**Seventh chapter is up! Now, I'm not going to lie, I took part of this chapter from the movie Flicka, with Tim McGraw and Maria Bello. I watched it on TV the other day and one of the scenes stuck in my mind. If you've seen the movie you'll know which one I'm talking about pretty soon. Anyway, time to find out what Calpurnia is so scared about.**

**PS: This chapter is especially dedicated to HeadSmashedInBuffaloJump. I hope you like the update, though I'm not sure you'll enjoy the ending any more than the last one... :)**

**Enjoy!**

"Scout!" Cal yelled, leaping to the bed. Scout's face was white, she was sweating all over and her body was shaking violently.

"So…cold…" Scout mumbled through her chattering teeth, but Cal felt her forehead and discovered she was burning up.

Calpurnia hurried to the telephone and asked for Mr. Finch's office, but was chagrined when she was told that he was out. She then dialed Dr. Reynolds' house and got his son. "What's wrong with Scout?" His son asked immediately, and Calpurnia replied,

"She's shaking something awful and her teeth are chattering and she keeps telling me that she's cold, but her forehead is hot to the touch. Please, sir, what can I do?"

"I'm on my way," Dr. Reynolds' son said shortly and hung up. Calpurnia hurried back to Scout's room and cleaned up the tray that she had dropped with trembling hands. She knew a fever when she saw one, and she also knew how dangerous they could be.

When Dr. Reynolds' son, Markus, came striding into the house, Calpurnia showed him Scout's bedroom. "Where's Mr. Finch?" Markus asked, sitting by Scout's bed and putting his hand to her forehead.

"In town but he's not at his office, I tried calling him,"

"Can you run and get him?" Markus asked, and Calpurnia nodded.

"Of course," She hurried out the front door and headed towards town. When she reached Atticus's office she ran inside. He wasn't there, but a passerby told her that he was at the diner having lunch with Uncle Jack and Jem.

Calpurnia ran to the diner and when she ran up to the window, Atticus saw her face and immediately stepped out. "What is it, Cal?"

"It's Scout, I went to take her lunch to her and she was shaking and sweating and she told me she was freezing but she was burning up, Dr. Reynolds's son is with her now," Calpurnia said quickly, and Atticus immediately went back into the diner.

"Jem, Jack," He called, and they followed him out of the diner. Atticus paid for their meal and then walked out. Calpurnia had told them of Scout's condition, and Jem had already taken off for home.

"I'll walk Calpurnia back, Atticus, go," Jack said quickly, and Atticus sent a grateful look towards his brother before he strode off in the direction that his son had taken. Jack and Calpurnia walked back a little slower with Calpurnia trying to catch her breath from running to town earlier.

"What's wrong with her, what's wrong with Scout?" Jem demanded as he ran into his sister's room. Atticus was not far behind him and stood in the doorway, catching his breath.

"Jem, out," Atticus ordered, his voice quiet but serious. Jem nodded reluctantly and slipped out as Markus Reynolds glanced at Atticus. "How is she, Markus?"

"She's running a high fever. I gave her something for it, but there's nothing else to do except wait for it to break," Markus said, and Atticus had to ask.

"What happens if it doesn't break?"

Markus didn't hear Atticus; he was too busy checking Scout's wounds. "Some of these are infected," He said quietly, and Atticus came over to the other side of the bed. Markus was right, some of the red wounds on Scout's stomach and chest had turned into nasty colors and looked infected.

"Is that where she got the fever from?"

"Yes, her body's trying to fight off the infection,"

"Can you give her something to help?" Atticus asked, and Markus sighed.

"I called my father, he's over in another town and he said he'd bring back some antibiotics to help, but he won't be back for a day or two. Until then, there's nothing I can do,"

"Is she going to be okay?" Atticus finally asked, and Markus replied,

"She's a fighter, Mr. Finch, so I'd bet that she's going to be fine. If this fever breaks soon then she'll be fine. Call me if anything changes, all right?"

"All right. Thank you, Markus," Atticus said, and Markus nodded before heading out. Uncle Jack came in as soon as Markus left and began his own person examination.

"Markus was right, she's got a fever and an infection," Uncle Jack sighed, running his hand over Scout's unconscious face. "Did he give her anything for the fever?"

"Yes, but he said there's nothing else to do but wait for it to break,"

"And he's right." Uncle Jack said, taking one of Scout's hands and holding it tightly.

"Dr. Reynolds won't be back for a few days with the antibiotic for the infection," Atticus said, sitting on the bed and tucking the covers in around Scout's still-shaking body.

"Then all we can do is wait," Uncle Jack said quietly, and Jem poked his head in the room.

"Can I come in now?" Jem asked, and Atticus nodded, saying,

"Yes, son, you can,"

Jem approached Scout's bed and took a hold of her other hand. "Is she gonna be okay, Atticus?"

"I sure hope so," Atticus said quietly, reaching up and putting a hand to her forehead, which was still burning up.

"Go back to town and close up your office, Atticus, Jem and I will stay with her," Uncle Jack said, glancing at his brother.

After a few moments of silent argument with himself, Atticus nodded. "All right. I'll be right back," He said, and briskly walked through the door.

"Mr. Finch?" Calpurnia said as she followed him to the front door. "This is my fault, sir, and I am so sorry," She started to say, and Atticus looked at her with an odd look on his face.

"How is any of this your fault, Cal?"

"When I bathed Scout last night, something must've gone wrong," Cal said anxiously, wringing her hands.

"No, Cal, nothing you did caused this. More of Scout's wounds would be infected if you hadn't cleaned them. I can't imagine that Bob Ewell's kitchen knife was clean, that's where the infection came from," Atticus assured her, and Cal nodded.

"Thank you, sir,"

"I'll be right back, I'm just headed to town to close my office for the night," Atticus said, and stepped through the door. Calpurnia went back to the kitchen and brought a cold rag to Scout's room and placed it gently on her forehead.

"Jem…run…Atticus…hurts…help…" Scout murmured, her head tossing back and forth. Jem looked at Uncle Jack, asking,

"Is she awake Uncle Jack?"

"No, Jem, she's delirious," At Jem's blank look he elaborated, "It's the fever messing with her brain, she's not really awake she's just talking to herself in her sleep,"

"Oh," Jem said, though he really didn't understand. Scout kept muttering to herself until dinnertime, which was when Atticus came back from town with his newspaper in hand.

This time everyone ate in the dining room, and Calpurnia ducked into Scout's room every now and then to dunk the rag in ice cold water and replace it on Scout's forehead, an attempt to break the fever. When dinner was over, Atticus sat in the living room and read some of the newspaper out loud to Jem, and Uncle Jack sat in and listened.

Bedtime rolled around, and Jem climbed into bed after telling Scout goodnight. Uncle Jack, knowing that Atticus was going to sit up in Scout's room all night, told his brother goodnight and then disappeared into the guest room.

Atticus brought the newspaper with him into Scout's room but set it aside after a few moments. He leaned over Scout's shivering body and tucked the covers in around her. She started mumbling again, saying, "Ham…stupid costume…Jem…screaming…don't hurt me…" Her head moved back and forth a few times, and Atticus brushed his hand over her hair.

"It's okay, baby, you're okay," He said quietly, taking the cloth and gently bathing her face before placing it in the ice bath and replacing it on her forehead.

"Don't hurt me…" She murmured, screwing her eyes closed and she became still. Atticus kept stroking the iced cloth over her forehead and bowed his head for a moment.

"I'm sorry, baby. I should have protected you, honey, and I'm so sorry I didn't. When you were a baby, Scout, I made so many promises to you, and I didn't keep many of those promises. I promised you would always have your mother and I, and that…that didn't work out," His voice broke, and he looked at his daughter's sleeping face. "Please forgive me, Scout, please. I will tell you every day how proud I am to have you as my daughter. I love you, baby, I love you more than words can say," Atticus said, a tear slipping down his cheek.

He couldn't believe that for a second time, his daughter was in danger of slipping away from him. And this time, writing a eulogy wasn't going to fix anything. It only worked once, and it had spent its life-saving power on Scout already. "Stay with me, Scout, please," Atticus begged, gathering her still body in his arms and holding her as tightly as he could, pressing his lips to her temple.

Atticus didn't leave Scout's room that night at all unless he needed to get more ice. In fact he hardly moved except to get up and pace back and forth at the foot of her bed a few times. He always ended up back in the chair next to her bed, stroking her feverish forehead with the ice cloth.

"Stay with me, baby, stay with me,"

**So Scout has a raging fever…oh crap. I wasn't sure if you could actually die from having a fever so I researched it, and it turns out that you totally can. If you don't treat the fever, you keep getting hotter and hotter until your brain basically fries. Doesn't that sound like a terrible way to go? Anyways, thanks for reading and hopefully I haven't alienated you from this story with all the terrible things that have happened to Scout!**


	8. Changes Make You Wise

**And now we'll discover whether Scout's fever has gotten better…or worse. This is another idea that I got from the movie Flicka, but it's not like you have to have seen the movie to understand this chapter, I just took the idea from it, and then changed it to fit this story. Anyway, enough of my rambling.**

**Enjoy!**

"Atticus…" Scout mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut and then slowly opening them. She saw her father sitting there next to her bed, asleep. "Atticus…" She said again as she kept blinking and tried to swallow, but found that her throat was far too dry to even attempt the action again. Atticus heard his name being called, and he thought it was a dream until it was called again, in that extremely familiar voice.

"Scout?" Atticus said, immediately sitting up and leaning towards his daughter. He smiled, overjoyed at the sight of her eyes open and blinking, staring at him. He brushed her bangs aside and felt her forehead. "Your fever's broke," He breathed, relief in his smile and his voice.

"What did I break?" Scout asked in confusion, her brow furrowed. Atticus chuckled and took a hold of her hand, squeezing.

"Nothing, baby, you didn't break anything. It's a medical term,"

"Oh," Scout said with a nod.

"I'm going to tell your uncle you're awake, okay?" Atticus said, stroking her head and starting to get up. Scout tightened her grip on his hand and begged quietly,

"Don't leave me, Atticus, please,"

"I'll just go to the door and call for him," Atticus conceded and stepped to the door, calling, "Jack!" That was all it took, and Atticus heard his brother climbing out of bed. He then sat back down beside Scout and she grabbed his hand.

"What is it?" Uncle Jack said as he hurriedly strode into the room. He saw Atticus holding Scout's hand and saw Scout's eyes wide open and blinking at him.

"Her fever's broke," Atticus told him, and Uncle Jack sighed.

"Thank God," He sat down on the other side of Scout and placed his hand on her forehead.

"Are you sure I didn't break anything, Atticus?" Scout queried, and Atticus smiled.

"I'm sure, honey, you didn't break anything,"

"Should I ring Dr. Reynolds?" Uncle Jack asked, and Atticus pulled his watch out, checking the time.

"No, wait a few hours. He should be back in time by then," Atticus said, and Uncle Jack nodded.

"What happened, Atticus?" Scout asked curiously, and Atticus turned his attention back to his daughter.

"Your cuts got infected,"

"You mean they got sick?"

"Kind of. And your body tried to fight off the infection, so your temperature rose. That's called a fever,"

"So I got really hot?" Scout said, trying to figure it all out in her head.

"Yes. A fever can be really dangerous, so we were all worried about you. A fever breaking means your temperature went back down,"

"So I'm okay now," Scout stated, and Atticus hesitated.

"We're not exactly sure yet, your cuts may still be infected," Uncle Jack told her, and then asked, "May I take a look at them?"

"Yes sir," Scout said with a nod, and Uncle Jack pulled her shirt up to see her stomach. The cuts were still an ugly color, but the infection seemed to be fading slightly.

"Dr. Reynolds will bring you some medicine later that will help get you better," Atticus promised, and Scout nodded. Uncle Jack went to get a cup of coffee, saying,

"It is too early to function without caffeine,"

"I'm sorry I keep getting sick, Atticus," Scout said a few moments after Uncle Jack left, looking at the deep worry lines in her father's face. He looked surprised and said,

"You don't have to apologize for being sick, Scout, it's not your fault,"

"I know, but I keep worrying you and I know you ain't getting much sleep and you're missing an awful lot of work to take care of me and I just feel bad," She said, looking away from him and moving her gaze to the floor. Atticus reached over and gently pulled her chin until she was looking at him again.

"Stop worrying about me, honey," He admonished quietly, and she sighed. "It's my job to worry about you and Jem, that's what fathers do, and it's also my job to take care of you."

"So kinda like your lawyer office job?" Scout questioned, and Atticus smiled.

"Not exactly. But I'll tell you the difference…" He said, and then leaned in conspiratorially, adding quietly, "I love doing this job, Scout, not so much the lawyer office job,"

She grinned at him and threw her good arm around his neck. It still hurt to move her injured shoulder, since that cut was one of the deepest. He kissed her forehead and then eased back as Uncle Jack brought Dr. Reynolds into the room.

"You're just full of excitement, aren't you Miss Scout?" Dr. Reynolds said with a shake of his head as he sat by Scout's bed.

"Yes sir I am," She said, and everyone chuckled. Dr. Reynolds pulled out his thermometer and checked Scout's temperature, and declared it normal, which was a relief to everyone. Then he gave Scout some pills to swallow, and left a bottle of them, instructing Atticus to give them to her twice a day.

"And I'm leaving you some of this cream, it's antibiotic cream I got for Scout. Spread it one maybe once a day, or every two days, it'll help with the infection and the healing process," Dr. Reynolds said before he left.

By that time, Jem had woken and climbed out of bed, coming down to Scout's room to see what the ruckus was all about. "Hey, Scout, you're awake," Jem said with a grin, coming over and sitting on her bed.

"Yeah. What day is it, Jem?"

"It's Sunday, why do you think I'm up so early?" He said as Calpurnia came into the room.

"All right, Mister Jem, time to get ready for church,"

Atticus came back into the room as Scout was trying to pull herself into a sitting position and saw her wincing in pain. "Ah, ah, ah," He said, shaking his head.

"Aren't I going to church?" She asked, confusion written all over her face.

"Oh no, baby, you're hurt and you need to rest," Calpurnia said, easing her back into a lying position and pulling the covers over her.

"But won't everyone be mad at me if I don't go?"

"Absolutely not," Calpurnia assured her, and then went out to make sure Jem was getting dressed.

"Am I gonna be here alone?" Scout asked, a flicker of fear in her eyes that Atticus barely caught. He shook his head and said,

"Uncle Jack's going to stay here with you. He's eating breakfast but he told me to tell you that he thought of a bunch of stories to tell you while we're gone,"

"Oh. Okay." Scout said with a smile, and Atticus gently tousled her hair before going to get dressed for church.

After everyone had left for church, Uncle Jack brought Scout's breakfast in. She had some more toast and orange juice, as Dr. Reynolds had left strict instructions not to let Scout eat too much or eat too rich. The stab wounds in her stomach were precariously close to her stomach and until they healed, the doctor wanted to take precautions.

Uncle Jack kept Scout laughing for the entire time that Atticus, Jem and Calpurnia were gone. Calpurnia came back first and started lunch, and a little while later Atticus and Jem came through the door.

"Scout!" Jem called, running into her room. "They were talking 'bout you at church today," He said, sitting on Scout's bed.

"Really? What'd they say?"

"Something about a God-given miracle you're alive, prayers for your fast recovery, stuff like that," Jem said, fiddling with his suit. "They mentioned Atticus I think, but I didn't hear what they said,"

"You mean you weren't paying attention," Scout teased, and Jem rolled his eyes.

"Jem Finch! You change out of those clothes this instant!" Calpurnia yelled from the kitchen, and Jem got to his feet, muttering,

"I swear she's got eyes everywhere in this house,"

"That's right, Mister Jem, and don't you forget it!" Calpurnia called, and Jem scurried out of the room before she came hunting for him.

In a few minutes, Atticus came into Scout's room, having changed out of his church clothes and he had a tray with a bowl of hot soup on it. Uncle Jack licked his lips and went into the kitchen to get himself a bowl. Atticus set the tray on the floor and carefully helped Scout into a sitting position before setting the tray in front of her.

"Aren't you gonna eat with me, Atticus?" Scout asked as he started towards the door. Atticus looked at her hopeful face and smiled, saying,

"Sure, why not?" He went and got his own bowl, coming back and setting it on Scout's tray. They shared the tray while they ate, and Scout recounted some of the stories Uncle Jack had told her.

"And there was this giant who had a golden goose and this guy Jack planted some seeds that grew into a huge beanstalk. Jack climbed the beanstalk and found the giant, and stole his golden goose. Boy, that giant didn't like that so he…" Scout was saying, and Atticus was clearing their bowls and the tray.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Atticus said, stepping from the room and coming back with a card in his hand. "Your Sunday School class made this for you," He said, handing it to her.

"Get Well Soon!" Scout read out, and smiled as she read through all the personal messages and signatures.

**Aww, Scout's Sunday School class is so sweet. And yes, I took the story that Uncle Jack told Scout from the well-known tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. I couldn't come up with a good enough story on my own, and that one seemed far-fetched enough that Uncle Jack would come up with something like it. Anyway, thanks so much for reading and I hope you like it!**


	9. Happiness Has It's Own Way

**Chapter 9 has arrived! I'm not sure how many more chapters I'm going to write, but definitely at least three more. This chapter involved Jem finally being able to go back to school, and Scout asks him not to tell everyone about their so-called 'adventure', for very grown-up reasons.**

**Enjoy!**

"Reckon I can read Scout some more of _The Gray Ghost_, Atticus?" Jem said from the doorway, and Atticus nodded. He left the room to get his Sunday paper and Jem told Scout to scoot over. He climbed onto the bed next to her and opened the book to where they left off last time and started to read.

He read all the way through dinnertime, and then even afterward. "All right, Jem, that's enough. It's time for Scout to go to bed," Calpurnia said from the doorway. Jem pulled a long face but then glanced down and saw that his sister was half-asleep already.

"I heard every word you said," Scout said sleepily as Calpurnia came in to change her into her pajamas. Jem told Scout goodnight and then went back to his own room as Calpurnia tucked Scout into bed. "I'm sick and tired of staying in bed, Cal," Scout murmured, and Calpurnia smiled.

"Oh, I know you are, Scout. Maybe if you're a good girl I'll have Mr. Finch move you to the couch or something for a while tomorrow,"

Scout muttered something about a good girl before she fell asleep, her head falling back amongst the pillows. Calpurnia shook her head at her as she left the room, turning the light off and pulling the door mostly closed. Atticus took her home for the night, and came back to find Uncle Jack snoring in the living room.

"Did you give Scout her pill?" Atticus asked his brother, shaking him awake.

"Yeah, yeah," Uncle Jack said sleepily, and then yawned, stretched and got to his feet. "Are you actually going to sleep in your own bed tonight?" He said as he walked towards the guest room.

"Yes I am," Atticus said, rolling his eyes. Uncle Jack disappeared into his room and Atticus turned all the lights off before going to his own room and shutting the door.

The next morning, Jem was up early to get ready to go to school. He was about to bound into Scout's room when Atticus caught him and said, "Your sister needs her rest, Jem, don't go waking her up,"

"Can I tell her bye when it's time to leave?" Jem asked, and Atticus sighed.

"We'll see, son. If she's awake, maybe,"

Jem ran off to the breakfast table with Calpurnia scolding him, telling him to slow down. "What happens if you fall and break your other arm, eh?" Cal said as she poured him his juice.

"Morning Cal," Atticus said as he stepped inside the kitchen.

"Good morning, Mr. Finch," Cal said to him as she grabbed a plate for him and began loading it up.

"Morning," Uncle Jack said from the doorway, and Atticus turned to look at him. They both cracked a smile as Uncle Jack meandered into the kitchen.

"Would you like some breakfast, Mr. Finch?" Cal asked Uncle Jack politely, and he thought for a moment.

"Sure, thank you,"

"What're you and Scout gonna do today Uncle Jack?" Jem asked as he ate his breakfast.

"That's a good question, Jem. Maybe we'll break out the checkers," Uncle Jack said thoughtfully as he sipped his coffee.

Jem finished his breakfast and brought his plate to the sink. "Can I go see if Scout's up?" He asked Atticus, who nodded.

"But don't you go waking her up!" Atticus called as Jem hurried towards Scout's room.

"She's up, Atticus!" Jem hollered, and Atticus shook his head.

"Will you stop by my class and tell 'em I'm okay?" Scout asked her brother, and he nodded.

"I'm gonna go show everyone my cast, and I'll tell 'em all about our adventure," Jem said, relishing the thought of telling everyone the tale.

"Jem, you can't do that!" Scout cried out, and Jem shook his head.

"Well, why not? We both coulda died!"

"That's exactly why you shouldn't just go around spreading it. I mean, tell 'em the basics if you have to, but bad stuff happened," Scout said, and Jem looked at her weird.

"Gosh, Scout, you've been acting stranger and stranger ever since," He got to his feet as Cal called for him. "Gotta go, Scout, bye!" He ran out and through the screen door, headed to school with Cal calling after him, telling him to slow down.

Atticus stepped into Scout's room and she looked at him. "You going to your office today Atticus?"

"Yes I am," He said slowly, and then sat down on her bed. "You beat me to it, Scout,"

"Beat you to what?" Scout was confused.

"I was going to tell Jem not to spread the tale of your…adventure…around to everyone at school, but you told him before I could,"

"It's just…when I go back, everyone's gonna be asking me about it, and I don't wanna go back there, Atticus, I wasn't scared at the time but when I look back, it frightens me so bad I almost start shaking," Scout confessed, and Atticus scooted closer to her, wrapping his arms around her.

"You're safe now, baby, nothing's gonna hurt you now,"

"I know that, Atticus, I really do, it's just, bad stuff happened that night, a man's dead and Jem and I could've died. Talking about it kinda brings it back, you know? And I just think talking about it makes it seem more…less like a nightmare and more like real. If I think of it as just a dream, I guess I can, I don't know, live with it?"

"Makes it easier to deal with, if it's just a dream," Atticus said slowly, and Scout nodded.

"I'm really wising up, aren't I Atticus?" She said with a half-smile, and he dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

"You're my grown up girl now, Scout, that's for sure."

They sat in silence for a long moment and then Scout said, "Please don't tell Jem what I said, Atticus, I don't want him thinking I'm weird or going soft or something,"

"All right, Scout, I won't tell him. Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you?"

"I think me and Uncle Jack'll do just fine," Scout said, and Atticus nodded, getting to his feet. He gently brushed his hand over the fading bruise on her cheek and said,

"I'll see you later, Scout," He couldn't bring himself to tell her goodbye, not after what happened the last time he went to town for the day to the office.

"Okay," She said easily, and settled back in her pillows, waiting for Uncle Jack to come.

"Who wants to play checkers?" Uncle Jack called out as he stepped in Scout's room.

"Me!" Scout said excitedly, and Uncle Jack grinned.

"Red or black?"

"Red," Scout said decisively, and Uncle Jack proceeded to set the board up.

Uncle Jack and Scout spent the entire day playing games, and when Miss Maudie came over to visit she brought both of them a small cake and joined in some of their games.

Later in the day, Jem came running into Scout's room with a big card in his hands. He gave it to Scout and said, "Your entire class helped make this, they made it last week and were waiting for me to come back to bring it to you," He explained, and her face lit up as she read all the little messages from all of her school friends.

"Even Cecil Jacobs signed this! He must be going soft or something," Scout declared, and Jem, Uncle Jack and Miss Maudie smiled.

"Here, I'll put it on your shelf," Uncle Jack said, but Miss Maudie snatched it out of his hands.

"I'll arrange it with the flowers you've gotten, make it look pretty for you Scout," She said, and Uncle Jack raised his hands in defeat.

"My future wife has a better eye for that than I do," Uncle Jack said wickedly, and Miss Maudie aimed a glare at him.

"You, Jack Finch, can take that proposal of yours and…"

She was interrupted as Calpurnia knocked at the door. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but you have a telephone call, Mr. Finch,"

Uncle Jack walked out and Miss Maudie began arranging the big card and the few bouquets of flowers on Scout's shelf.

After a while longer, the screen door opened and both Jem and Scout recognized their father's footsteps on the floor. He came in and greeted all of them before sitting down next to Scout and reading the newspaper. Miss Maudie didn't stay for dinner, and they finished out the night with Jem reading a few more chapters of _The Gray Ghost_ to Scout.

That's the way it went for a few weeks, and then Dr. Reynolds came back for a check-up on Scout. Atticus was postponing going to his office until Dr. Reynolds finished his examination. He came out of Scout's room and saw Cal, Atticus and Uncle Jack waiting for his report.

"Miss Scout is healing extremely well. She can start trying to move around, but I do not recommend her trying to get out of bed, except maybe sitting on the side. It will hurt a lot, but she needs to start moving." He said, and Atticus thanked him and proceeded to walk him out. They ended up walking to town together, discussing the best ways to get Scout up and moving again.

No one could predict that Scout was already sick and tired of just sitting around and would decide to give standing a try on her own.

**Well then. She's a very stubborn little girl, isn't she? I love writing the interactions between Miss Maudie and Uncle Jack, they're usually very humorous in the novel. And I imagined that Scout's class would at least do something nice for her, so they made her another card, just like her Sunday School class. The next chapter will have Scout using all of her willpower in order to get her body working right again. Thanks so much for reading, I hope you're enjoying this story!**


	10. Of Taking Its Sweet Time

**Chapter 10 is up! This chapter will be mainly Scout being bound and determined to get herself walking again, since she's sick and tired of lying around in bed all the time. But by the end, she's decided to keep it a secret for one particular reason…**

**Enjoy!**

Uncle Jack had gone to take Calpurnia home, since one of her grandbabies was sick and needed taking care of, and Scout was left on her own. This wasn't common, but it wasn't unheard of, since it had been nearly three weeks since that scare with the fever.

"I am so sick of this bed!" Scout said impatiently to the room in general. She slowly pulled herself into a sitting position, as she had been doing for weeks, and then swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Slow and steady," She said to herself, the phrase that had been told to her several times over the past two weeks.

Dr. Reynolds had decided to get her moving, so she would sit on the side of the bed for a while and just move her legs and work on sitting up straight. That may not sound like much, but when you've been stabbed three times in the stomach and twice in the chest, it hurts a whole lot.

"I can do this," Scout said, gritting her teeth. She grasped the headboard of her bed and inch by inch she used her arm to pull herself into a standing position. Her hurt shoulder was screaming in pain, but as she slowly relaxed her grip on the headboard the pain slowly went away until it was only a dull ache. "I did it!" She exclaimed, letting herself stand up completely straight, though her stomach was killing her.

Her eyes strayed to the doorway and she found herself wanting to walk towards it, but she remembered the last time that she had tried that. She ended up crumpled on the floor; feeling like she was getting stabbed all over again and she had worried Atticus, Uncle Jack and everyone else yet again.

"My legs feel weird," She mused, sticking one of her legs out and moving it around. It felt a little like learning to stand up and walk away, but that was because she had been laid up in bed for so long. Her injuries really began to ache then so she decided to sit back down, and then leaned back slowly until she was lying down. Scout was truly exhausted, and she fell asleep almost instantly.

That was the case for the following days, whenever she was left alone she could get to her feet and see how long she could stand there. The time grew longer and longer, and pretty soon she felt the normalness returning back to her legs. About 10 days after she successfully stood on her own, she reached over and gripped the dresser, taking a tentative step. Her legs wobbled so she stood there for a long moment and then took another step.

She almost fell to the ground, and she knew that was as far as she could push it. For a few more days it was only one step, and then it grew to two, and then three, and then four. Pretty soon she could make it all the way to her door and back, though granted it was with a lot of pain. It was a month after Dr. Reynolds wanted her to start sitting up, and Scout could walk to her door and back to her bed with a relatively small amount of pain.

That was when Scout decided she wanted to keep her recovery a secret. She envisioned the day when she would amaze Cal and Uncle Jack by getting up and saying she wanted to go and greet Atticus when he came home. Jem would run out before her, and then she could walk (hopefully run) out and greet her father on her own two feet.

"I can do this," Scout told herself over and over again as she worked on being able to walk from her bed to the door with little to no pain.

The doctor came back and asked Scout if she thought she could try standing up. She nodded her head and Uncle Jack came in to help pull her to a standing position. "It hurts," Scout whimpered over and over, and Uncle Jack finally laid her back down.

"It's too soon, Dr. Reynolds, she's in too much pain," Uncle Jack said, and Dr. Reynolds concurred. Scout knew it was bad to lie, but she didn't consider this lying. She was just hiding the fact that her recovery was speeding along.

And then the time came when Atticus had to go to Montgomery.

"I really shouldn't go," He said to Uncle Jack as they were sitting in Scout's room.

"Yes you should. You can't just refuse to go, Atticus, you know that," Uncle Jack admonished.

"I know that, I do," Atticus said, and looked at Scout. She carefully sat up and shook her head when both Uncle Jack and Atticus offered to help her.

"You need to go, Atticus, I'm okay with Uncle Jack and Jem and Cal. Besides, you'll be just a phone call away, and Dr. Reynolds is down the road. I'll be fine," She said, and crawled into his lap. He held her tightly and she reached up and kissed him.

"Are you sure?" He asked, still hesitant.

"Yes, I'll be fine. You go do what you have to do," She told him, and he nodded.

"I'll be gone a week at the most," Atticus assured her, and she shrugged.

"Who knows, you might be gone longer. It's okay, Atticus, it really is,"

"Well, all right then," He said, and got up to make his travel arrangements and plans. Atticus left Maycomb a few days later, and he held Scout for a long time.

"I'll be here when you get back," She promised him, and he kissed her cheek.

"You'd better be. I'll call if I'm going to be later than a week," And with that he departed for the train station.

When he'd left, Uncle Jack came into Scout's room and closed the door. "All right, Jean Louise, out with it,"

"Out with what?" Scout asked, and Uncle Jack pulled a chair up.

"Your wounds are healing very nicely, and yet when you stand up you're moaning about the pain that I know you are not feeling. What's going on?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Scout mumbled, and Uncle Jack's eyes turned serious.

"Don't lie to me young lady,"

Scout only held out for a few more moments and then said, "All right, all right. I've been sorta working on standing up on my own," She confessed, and peeked at Uncle Jack to see if he was mad.

"What do you mean, working on it on your own?"

She couldn't tell if he was mad or not, so she continued, "When everyone would leave, I'll pull myself up, and I was real careful, Uncle Jack, I didn't want to fall down again,"

Uncle Jack was silent, and then asked, "So you can stand?"

Scout hesitated, and then sat up, swung her legs over the side of the bed and walked to the door and back without much difficulty. When she sat back down on the bed she chanced a glance at her uncle. His face was so unreadable she knew he was mad. "I'm so sorry, Uncle Jack, I just wanted to do something on my own for once, I mean I haven't even been able to wash myself in the past few months, and I wanted to surprise all of you and make it a happy thing. Please don't be mad at me, Uncle Jack, and please don't tell Atticus,"

"You think I'm mad at you?" Uncle Jack said slowly, and then shook his head as a big grin spread across his face. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap, saying, "Baby, I am so happy, and I am so proud of you,"

"You are?" Scout said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Of course I am! But why don't you want me to tell your father?"

"Because I was kinda doing this for him. I wanted to be able to run out and greet him and surprise him, make him smile," Scout admitted, and Uncle Jack smiled even wider.

"Well, we've got a week to make that happen, don't we?"

"Are you gonna help me?" Scout said, drawing back.

"Yes ma'am. You just found yourself a recovery coach," Uncle Jack said, and Scout beamed at him.

"Thank you, Uncle Jack,"

"Can, can you do that again?" Uncle Jack requested, and Scout slid off his lap, walking to the door and back.

"I might be able to walk farther but that's as far as I can go right now without hardly any pain," Scout said, and Uncle Jack smiled, but Scout could see the tears in his eyes. "What's wrong, Uncle Jack?"

"It's just, Atticus and I were talking a few nights ago and the possibility of you never walking again. It scared me, scared both of us, but clearly we were on the wrong track,"

Scout went back into his arms and he held her tightly, stroking her hair. "I'm sorry I hid it from you,"

"Oh, that's all right, it was a very nice surprise. Now, are you ready to get to work?" Uncle Jack said, clapping his hands together.

"Yes sir!" Scout said with a mock salute and a big grin on her face.

**Aw, Uncle Jack and Atticus were worried about her never walking again! They thought maybe the knife had done something to her spinal cord or something, that's why. Anyways, I hope you're enjoying this story so far! The next chapter will have Scout and Uncle Jack working more on her recovery. Thanks for reading!**


	11. Tears Will Fall Sometimes

**Chapter 11! Only three more to go, I finally figured that out. Anyways, Uncle Jack and Scout can't keep her recovery a secret for very long, and in this chapter others find out, but they promise to help. Then Atticus calls and delivers some slightly depressing news, but by the end the children are anxiously awaiting his arrival.**

**Enjoy!**

Scout and Uncle Jack soon discovered that it was impossible to keep a secret from Calpurnia when she was in the house. They were in the middle of a leg exercise when Calpurnia came in, and she nearly screamed before Scout shook her head, saying,

"It's okay, Cal, it's okay,"

"What is going on in here?" She said, looking at Scout standing on her own two feet.

"I've been working on my recovery," Scout said, using Uncle Jack's word. She demonstrated what she meant by walking to Calpurnia and wrapping her arms around her waist. Calpurnia knelt down and looked at Scout's face, seeing a healthy color in it that she hadn't seen in a while.

"Oh baby, I'm so proud of you," Cal said, touching her face.

"You are?" Scout said, lighting up.

"Yes I am! Is Mr. Finch your coach over here?"

"Yep! You won't tell Atticus will you?" Scout said anxiously, and Calpurnia cocked her head. "I want to surprise him when he comes home," She elaborated.

"Well then of course I won't tell him," Cal assured her, and then left the two alone to their mission.

"Do you really think I can do this in a week, Uncle Jack?" Scout asked dubiously, and Uncle Jack nodded, saying firmly,

"I believe in you, Jean Louise Finch. The question is, do you believe in yourself?"

Scout nodded vigorously, saying, "Yes sir!"

Just then, Jem burst into the room. "Is it true? Can you really walk around Scout?" He demanded, and Scout walked a few steps towards her brother to prove what Calpurnia had told him. "It's a miracle!" Jem pronounced, hugging his sister. "Can I help?"

"You can be my assistant coach," Uncle Jack told him, and Jem sat next to him. They began devising a strategy to get Scout walking long distances by the end of the week.

It wasn't until the middle of the week that Scout could successfully walk down the hallway without falling. Granted, she still felt a lot of pain, but she gritted her teeth and worked through the pain, and then fell into bed, exhausted beyond belief, at night.

It was late Thursday when the phone rang. Scout was almost sleeping when Calpurnia gently knocked on the door. "Scout, your father's on the phone, he'd like to speak to you,"

Scout was up in an instant and Cal watched with a proud smile on her face as she walked to the telephone and picked it up, talking to Atticus.

"Are you okay, Scout?" Atticus asked instantly when she said hello.

"Yes sir, I'm fine," She answered, and Atticus sighed.

"Are you telling me the truth, Scout?"

"Yes sir, I am telling you the truth. I'm okay," She insisted, and Atticus replied,

"All right. I'm going to have to stay a few extra days, honey, I'm sorry…"

"When are you gonna come home?" She asked, and Atticus thought about it.

"Next week, I'll be on the late train home. I'll be home just before your bedtime,"

Scout thought about that for a long moment and then nodded. "I'm okay with that, Atticus,"

"I'm sorry about the extra days," Atticus started to say, but Scout interrupted him.

"You don't have to worry about me, Atticus,"

"Of course I do, hon, you're my daughter, I think being worried about you is part of that,"

"But you don't worry about Jem half as much as you do about me!" Scout protested, and Atticus chuckled.

"Well, Scout, Jem's not the one laid up in bed for a while. Speaking of that, is Uncle Jack helping you with moving around?"

"Yes sir, he is. We've been trying to stand up, but it's a slow process," Scout said, feeling extremely guilty about the lie she was telling her father.

"I know, honey, but you'll get there. I know you will," Atticus said gently, and Scout smiled. "I have to go, Scout," He said, and Scout could hear someone calling Atticus's name.

"Okay. I'll see you next week,"

"Yes you will. Take care of yourself, Jean Louise, and I'll call you again in a few days," Atticus said, and then they both hung up.

"I hate lying to Atticus," Scout complained as she made her way back to bed. Uncle Jack tucked her in and kissed her forehead.

"I know you do, Scout, and that says a lot about your character. Just imagine Atticus's face when he comes home and sees you walking right at him,"

"I do, and it makes it slightly easier, but not much," Scout said, and Uncle Jack just nodded as he told her goodnight and then left the room.

The next day, Dr. Reynolds came for a check-up visit. He examined her wounds and looked puzzled. "Are you sure you can't stand up on your own, Miss Scout? You seem to be healing quite well,"

"Well, Doc, there's something Scout's been keeping from us all," Uncle Jack said, nodding to his niece. She carefully pulled herself out of bed and proceeded to walk around the room. Dr. Reynolds sat there, his mouth gaping open.

"Well then," Dr. Reynolds managed to say, closing his mouth and just staring at Scout. "Have you been working on this all by yourself?"

"I was until Uncle Jack, Calpurnia and Jem decided to be my coaches. I wanna be able to walk up to Atticus when he gets back from Montgomery," Scout explained, and Dr. Reynolds nodded.

"That's a very good goal, Miss Scout." After a few more perfunctory examinations, Dr. Reynolds took his leave, instructing Uncle Jack to be very careful in allowing Scout to run around.

"Trust me, Doctor, she won't be running," Uncle Jack promised.

A few days passed, and Scout was able to walk up and down the hallway with little discomfort. Uncle Jack, Calpurnia and Dr. Reynolds were astounded by Scout's quick recovery. By Tuesday of the following week, Scout was able to get up and walk around the house without too many problems. She couldn't walk around for a long time, after she'd been on her feet for about an hour she really started to ache.

Miss Maudie came over a few times and assisted in the coaching, though most of the time she bickered back and forth with Uncle Jack. Pretty soon Scout was able to run up and down the hallway, though that was about it. If she ran much more than that, and if she ran too fast, her injuries really started to hurt and Uncle Jack had to carry her to her bed and give her some of the pain pills.

Finally, Atticus sent word that he'd be coming back on Friday of that week, but very late.

"So we've got three days," Scout said as she ate breakfast on Wednesday.

"Yes ma'am," Uncle Jack said, thoughtfully chewing his food. "How about you start stretching and me and Jem will come up with a schedule, to make sure you are in tip top shape for Atticus?" He suggested, and she nodded. Jem was enthusiastic about the idea, after all he got to boss his sister around, and she would actually follow his orders instead of leaping on him and punching him. He only had a few more minutes, though, because he still had to go to school. The only time he helped coach was when he came home from school

Uncle Jack and Jem came up with the schedule that they would begin by stretching after breakfast, and then walking up and down the hallway. Before lunch she would try jogging up and down the hallway, and after lunch was running up and down the hallway a few times. Then there was a resting period before dinner, when Jem would read something to her. Jem would read when he got home from school, and Uncle Jack would be taking care of her coaching in the morning, along with Calpurnia.

And then, after dinner, they planned on going outside and Scout would walk around outside, and then they would practice her run to Atticus. Uncle Jack judged the distance and then pretended to be Atticus. The hardest part was trying not to pick her up, since he was afraid that he'd hurt her if he did that. Finally, on Thursday night, Scout yelled,

"Pick me up Uncle Jack!"

"I don't want to hurt you, Scout," Uncle Jack said, shaking his head.

"You won't, sir, you won't!" She insisted, and then took off running. Uncle Jack hesitated for a split second but then Scout reached her arms up and he grabbed her waist as gently as she could, swinging her high. He cradled her in his arms and asked hurriedly,

"Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

"No, Uncle Jack, that was fun!" Scout giggled, and Uncle Jack had to smile.

"So, are you ready for tomorrow? It's the big day," Uncle Jack asked as he carried her back inside the house. She was yawning, and Calpurnia still needed to give her a bath.

"I am ready," Scout pronounced, and Uncle Jack grinned at her before delivering her to Calpurnia, who already had the bath water drawn.

"Your father's going to be so proud of you," Cal told her as she plunked her in the tub.

"Do you really think so?" Scout asked anxiously, and Cal nodded.

"Absolutely."

Scout really hoped so. After all the worry she put him through, he deserved a little nice surprise.

**And surprised he will be! The next chapter, if you haven't guessed, will have Atticus returning to his daughter walking…well running, actually…into his arms. Scout will eventually be going back to school, and sad to say, Uncle Jack will have to return to his home pretty soon. Thanks for reading and I hope you're enjoying this story so far!**


	12. But I Know I'll Be Fine

**Welcome to chapter 12! This is the third-to-last chapter, and it will have Atticus finally returning home to the biggest surprise of his life. He is absolutely stunned when his daughter, whom he thought was still stuck in bed, is running towards him as he walks home. And then Uncle Jack has some sad news for Atticus at the end.**

**Enjoy!**

Friday dawned early, and when Jem went to go wake Scout up, Uncle Jack caught him. "Let your sister sleep, Jem, she's gonna need her rest for tonight," He admonished, and Jem nodded sheepishly.

"Sorry, Uncle Jack,"

"All right. Let's go eat breakfast," He steered his nephew into the kitchen and they ate breakfast. Jem went off to school, excited about his father coming home from Montgomery. He was doubly excited because Dr. Reynolds had told him that he could get his cast off in a week or so.

Scout didn't wake up until it was past noon and Calpurnia was bringing her lunch to her. "Cal? What time is it?" Scout asked sleepily as she sat up and yawned.

"It's nearly one o'clock in the afternoon," Cal chuckled, and Scout was surprised.

"How come you let me sleep this late?"

"Because you'll need your strength later, for when your father comes home," Cal said as she placed Scout's lunch on the bed.

"It's the big day, Scout, are you ready?"

"Yes sir!" Scout said with a grin as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"Good. Atticus won't be home until about six o'clock tonight, so you've got five hours to rest up. Jem will be home soon," He said, and then left the room so Scout could finish her lunch in peace and quiet.

Those five hours passed incredibly slowly for Scout, and Jem too for that matter. When he came home he quickly asked Uncle Jack how long it would be before Atticus got home, and he was told that it would be at least three hours before they were to begin expecting him.

He grabbed _The Gray Ghost_ and began reading it to Scout after he got home from school, and both of them kept sneaking glances at the clock. When he finished reading the last chapter, Uncle Jack came to the door. "Are you two hungry?"

"No," They both chimed, and Uncle Jack rolled his eyes.

"Well, good, because we're going to wait for your father to get home before we eat dinner," He said, and then left the room.

"All right, Scout, so I'll run out and see Atticus first, and I'll tell him that we've got a surprise for him," Jem said, and Scout smiled with a nod.

Jem turned and peered out the window, and then hollered, "Uncle Jack, when's Atticus supposed to be coming home?"

"Sometime around now," Uncle Jack replied, and Jem said excitedly,

"I see him! I see him!" He bolted out of Scout's room and ran onto the porch. "It is him! C'mon Scout!"

Calpurnia helped Scout onto the porch as Jem raced down the street and straight towards Atticus. "Jem! Slow down," Atticus warned just as Jem plowed into him. "Careful, son, I'm an old man," Atticus said with a chuckle as he held him tightly.

"Guess what, Atticus?" Jem said excitedly, and Atticus raised his eyebrows.

"What?"

"We've got a surprise for you," Jem replied, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the house. When they came around the bend, Uncle Jack patted Scout's shoulder.

"Showtime, Scout," He said, and she carefully stepped off the porch. She was almost perfect at walking, but stairs were another thing.

Scout reached the flat ground and took off towards her brother and her father, yelling, "Atticus!"

When Atticus saw his daughter bolting towards him, he thought he was living in a dream or something. He immediately stopped walking, just staring at her. Jem tugged at his hand and he bent down in time to catch Scout as she leapt into his arms. He swung her high until he realized that he could be hurting her and quickly pulled her down until he was cradling her in his arms.

Scout wrapped her arms around his neck and beamed at him. Granted her stomach was hurting her, but she didn't care. "Did I surprise you Atticus?" She asked, and he gently pulled her back, looking her over.

"How?" He asked in shock, almost unable to speak.

"Uncle Jack, Jem and Calpurnia have been my coaches. They've been helping me to walk and run and all so I could surprise you," Scout explained, suddenly afraid that he was angry at her.

Actually, she realized that she didn't think it was anger written all over his face, it was sadness. Scout reached up and kissed him with all her might. "Are you okay, Atticus?"

"I'm just, surprised," He said finally, framing her face with his hands. "Are you hurting anywhere, Scout?"

"No sir, I'm fine," Scout said, and he smiled.

"That was the best surprise ever, honey, I loved it,"

"Did you really?" She asked, her face lighting up. He hugged her and assured,

"Of course I did,"

Scout grinned and buried her face in his shoulder as everyone started clapping. When Scout started yelling for Atticus, almost all of the neighbors came out of their houses and stood on their porches, watching the father-daughter reunion. Miss Maudie came out of her house and stood next to Uncle Jack.

Atticus held onto Scout tightly and walked towards his house. Uncle Jack stepped towards them with a grin on his face and Atticus shook his head. "I have to agree with Maudie, Jack. You are a devil," Atticus said affectionately as he clapped his brother on the shoulder.

"Actually, Scout did most of it on her own," Uncle Jack said modestly, and Scout again buried her face in Atticus's shoulder.

"What does he mean, honey?" Atticus asked gently, and Scout mumbled,

"When you started going back to work, and no one was in the house, I would practice."

"Practice what?"

"Practice standing up,"

Atticus was stunned. "Scout, you could've been seriously hurt," He said, and she tried to burrow even further into his arms.

"I'm sorry, Atticus, I just wanted to do something on my own for once, everyone was always helping me do everything, and I hated feeling so…so…" She struggled to find the right word.

"Helpless," Atticus muttered, understanding what she was feeling. He felt the same thing when she was fighting for her life.

"I was really careful, I took it really slowly. It took me forever to be able to just walk to the door and back from my bed," Scout said quickly, and Atticus shook his head.

"It's alright, baby, I'm not mad at you,"

"You're not?" It was Scout's turn to be stunned.

"Of course not. I'm so proud of you, Scout, I'm certainly not angry or upset with you," Atticus said, stroking her hair until she pulled her face back.

"I told you so, didn't I?" Cal said with a grin, and Scout nodded. She kept her arms around Atticus's neck as he greeted all of the neighbors and then they went inside for dinner.

After they finished eating, Scout went up to Calpurnia. "Can I have one of those pain pills?" She asked quietly, but Atticus heard her anyways. After Cal had given her the pill and she swallowed it, Atticus sat on her bed and gently pulled her onto his lap.

"Where does it hurt, Scout?" He asked, and she lifted her shirt up to show him her stomach. Atticus was surprised at how well the wounds were healing, but they still looked painful. "You need to rest," He told her, and she sighed.

"I know, but I'm not tired,"

"All right then, I'll make you a deal," Atticus said, and Scout listened as he told her, "I'll sit with you and tell you all about my trip to Montgomery, and you have to go to sleep afterward, is that a deal?"

"Only the interesting parts," Scout insisted, and Atticus chuckled.

"All right, only the interesting parts."

"Deal," Scout said, and clambered out of his lap to change into her pajamas. She crawled into bed a few moments later and Atticus sat down next to her, leaning against the headboard and wrapping an arm around Scout. She snuggled next to him as he began to recount all of his adventures in Montgomery, though he did embellish a bit on some of the parts to make them more interesting for her.

When Atticus finished talking, Scout was starting to fall asleep. He tucked her in and kissed her forehead, saying, "Goodnight, Scout,"

"G'night, Atticus," Scout mumbled, and Atticus turned the light off before slipping out of her room. He walked into the living room and saw Uncle Jack on the phone. He saw down in the living room and a few moments later Uncle Jack sat down too.

"I'm going to have to head back home in a few days," Uncle Jack said regretfully.

"Understandable," Atticus said with a nod.

"I'll tell the children tomorrow. They won't be very happy, but I'll be back to visit sometime," Uncle Jack replied, and Atticus nodded again.

"Thank you again, Jack, for staying with them while I left. Normally I wouldn't worry, but," Atticus trailed off, and Uncle Jack said,

"It's no problem, Atticus, I understand. Scout's in a really good place right now, Dr. Reynolds said she can go back to school in another week or maybe ten days, and I agree. Maybe it's just the uncle in me but I'd recommend two weeks or so,"

Atticus nodded and the two brothers fell silent, just sitting there in peace and quiet until a shrill scream of a child split the silence.

**Oh, I just love writing those cliff-hangers, though I'm sure you lovely readers don't. Who's screaming and why is that child screaming? You'll find out in the next chapter, which will be the second-to-last chapter. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you like this story so far!**


	13. No Life Ain't Always Beautiful

**Chapter 13 is up! And now you'll find out who was screaming, and why she was screaming. And then Atticus will comfort her. I just gave it all away now didn't I? Anyways, Uncle Jack will tell the kids that he has to leave, and then guess who comes back into the story? Boo Radley! No I haven't forgotten about him, he just didn't exactly fit into the story until now.**

**Enjoy!**

Atticus immediately bolted from his chair straight to Scout's room, terror written all over his face. He threw her door open and frantically looked around the room. He saw Scout tossing and turning on her bed, and she screamed again.

"Scout, baby, wake up," Atticus said quickly as he sat on the bed and placed his hands on her shoulders, trying to wake her up.

"No!" She shrieked, her eyes snapping open as she tried to fight off the dream.

"It's just a nightmare, honey, it can't hurt you, it's not real," Atticus said soothingly, stroking her face. Scout let out a sob and wrapped his arms around his waist.

"It was so scary, Atticus," She sobbed, and he tightened his grip on her.

"It's all right now, sweetheart, you're okay, I won't let anything hurt you," He chanted, rocking her as she quieted. Uncle Jack was standing at the doorway and Atticus looked at him.

"I'll make sure Jem didn't wake up," Uncle Jack said, correctly interpreting his brother's glance.

"It was so real," Scout whispered, and Atticus pulled her into his lap.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, and she buried her face in his chest.

"It was about that night with Mr. Ewell," Scout mumbled, and Atticus closed his eyes.

"Was it about what happened that night?"

"Well, sort of, but it was different,"

"Different how?"

"Mr. Ewell stuck his knife in you instead of me," Scout murmured, and Atticus could feel her shaking. "And then we went to your funeral and I tried to get you to wake up but you wouldn't and they were pulling me away from you and….and then I woke up," She said, her voice breaking at the end.

"Oh, baby, it's okay, I'm right here," Atticus said softly, lifting her up so she would look at him.

"I know that, I do, it was just really scary," She admitted, and he kissed her cheek.

"Do you want me to stay with you, Scout?"

"Will you?" She asked, and he smiled at her.

"Of course I will, hon," Atticus said, and she lay back down and Atticus did the same. He wrapped his arms around her and she closed her eyes, trying to go back to sleep. Slowly the image of her father sinking to his knees with a knife shoved into his chest faded, and she fell into a restless sleep.

When the Scout awoke the next morning, she was pleased to find that Atticus was still beside her, softly snoring away. She rested for a few more moments and then found herself getting restless. Carefully she slipped out from his arms and straightened up as she stood on the floor. Scout then wandered into the kitchen and discovered Jem eating breakfast.

"Morning Scout," Uncle Jack said, and then put the newspaper down. "Is your father still sleeping?"

"Yes sir, I was real careful not to wake him up," Scout said as Calpurnia brought her breakfast over to her.

"Good girl. Now, I want to talk to the two of you," Uncle Jack said, looking at Scout and then at Jem until he had their undivided attention. "I'm going home tomorrow."

"Aw, Uncle Jack," Jem protested, and Uncle Jack held his hand up.

"I need to get back to my practice, my patients need me," He explained to them, and Scout just hung her head.

"But we'll miss you an awful lot," Scout said sadly, and Uncle Jack got up, sweeping her into his arms.

"And I'll miss you too. It's not like this is the last time I'm ever going to see you. Christmas is coming soon, in less than a month, and I'll be back then, is that okay with the two of you?"

"Yes sir," Jem said, pushing his food around with his fork.

"Scout? How about you?"

"Well…alright," She agreed, and Uncle Jack set her back down to finish her breakfast. "Does Atticus know you're planning to leave?"

"Yes, I told him last night," Uncle Jack informed them, and then Calpurnia reminded Jem that it was time to leave for school.

"Should I go wake Atticus up?" Scout asked as Jem left the house. "Doesn't he have to go to town soon?"

"We'll let him sleep for a little while longer. He deserves a day off after spending over a week with a bunch of politicians," Uncle Jack decided, and Scout nodded, though she didn't quite understand what he had said.

After breakfast, Scout and Uncle Jack decided to go outside and play hide and seek. They weren't allowed to hide anywhere past the Radley house or Mrs. Dubose's house, but everywhere else was fair game. When it was Scout's turn, she ran in front of the Radley house and was shocked into standing still when the door opened.

She saw a familiar man standing in the doorway, beckoning for her to come inside. She glanced back at Uncle Jack, who was nearing the end of his countdown, and hurriedly ran inside. The man that had let her in was none other than Mr. Arthur "Boo" Radley.

When Scout was in the house she turned around and looked at Mr. Arthur. "You helped save me and Jem, didn't you Mr. Arthur?" Scout questioned, and he barely nodded. "I remember sometimes when I was half-asleep you'd come into my room with Atticus and he would talk to you and you would just look at me for a little while. Were you checking up on me?" Scout asked, and again received a nearly imperceptible nod.

Scout inched over to the window and glanced out to see Uncle Jack searching everywhere for her. She giggled and looked at Mr. Arthur. "This is the best hiding spot in the world, Mr. Arthur, thank you,"

"You're welcome," He said in a strangled whisper. His voice sounded as if he hardly used it, which was true.

The two of them talked…well, Scout would say a bunch of stuff and then ask Mr. Arthur a question, to which he would either nod or shake his head. Scout was unaware of the time passing by, and the anxious people looking for her.

When Uncle Jack was unable to find Scout, and even when he yelled that he had given up, she still didn't come out. That was when he ran inside the house and into Scout's bedroom. Atticus was still sleeping, and Jack shook his awake. "Jack? What…what's going on? Where's Scout?" Atticus said, blinking a few times as he groped for his glasses.

"Scout and I were playing hide and seek, and I can't find her. I even yelled that I had given up, that she had won the game, and still I can't find her," Jack said hurriedly, and Atticus quickly got out of bed and ran outside, followed by Uncle Jack and Calpurnia. Calpurnia ran to Miss Maudie's and got her involved in the search.

Scout was in the middle of a sentence to Mr. Arthur when he saw all his neighbors running around outside. He could hear them calling Scout's name, and he stood up. "I think your father's looking for you," Mr. Arthur said in his strangled whisper.

"Oh! I forgot we were playing hide and seek," Scout said, and ran to the doorway. "My daddy's gonna be so mad at me," She said and opened the door, stepping out onto the porch.

"I found her Atticus!" Miss Maudie called, hurrying up to the Radley porch. In a few moments, Atticus came running, and when he saw Scout standing on the porch and Mr. Arthur standing in the doorway, he understood.

"You had us all worried," Uncle Jack scolded as Atticus just took his daughter in his arms.

"I'm sorry Uncle Jack, Miss Maudie, Atticus. I was looking for a hiding spot, and Boo…I mean Mr. Arthur…let me in and we started talking. I completely forgot we were playing a game," She apologized, sneaking a look up at Atticus to see if he was mad at her.

"Be more careful next time, honey," Atticus said quietly, and looked at Mr. Arthur. He could see the shy man was about to apologize, and Atticus just shook his head. "Thank you for keeping her company, and keeping her safe, Mr. Arthur," He said, and Mr. Arthur just attempted a smile before closing the door. Atticus carried Scout back to their house after thanking Miss Maudie for helping them search.

"Sometimes that Atticus is one strange man," Miss Maudie said, shaking her head. "I would have scolded her for scaring all of us,"

"I guess I would have too, but I think right now, he's just relieved she's okay. There have been too many close calls in Scout's life, and Atticus lives in constant fear that sometimes will happen to her again." Uncle Jack explained.

"I don't blame him for that," Miss Maudie said softly, and Uncle Jack nodded slowly.

"If I were in his shoes, I'd probably lock Scout in the house and refuse to let her out."

"He can't do that. There're a lot of evil things in this world, and try as he might, even the great Atticus Finch can't keep all of them away from his children." Miss Maudie said, and then the two parted ways.

Atticus carried Scout into the house and set her down in her bedroom. "Are you okay?" He asked, and she nodded.

"I'm sorry I scared you, Atticus, I know you've had enough scaring to last a lifetime," Scout said, bowing her head. He tipped her head back and smiled at her.

"Apology accepted."

**So yes, Boo Radley made a short appearance in the story, and Scout once again scared a lot of years off of Atticus's life, along with Uncle Jack and Miss Maudie. The next chapter will be the final one, and then this story will be complete. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you like these last few chapters!**


	14. But It's A Beautiful Ride

**This is the 14****th**** and final chapter of Life Ain't Always Beautiful. Uncle Jack says goodbye to the children and his brother because he must return home, and then Scout is allowed to return to school. The story ends on a happy, content note, I promise.**

**Enjoy!**

Scout settled down into her father's arms and sighed. They fell silent for a few long moments and then she asked,

"Are you mad at me, Atticus?"

"No, baby, I was just worried. You scared me half to death," He said, resting his chin on top of her head. "I'll be okay in a few minutes," Atticus added, just needing to hold his daughter for a few more moments.

When Atticus relinquished his grip on her she eased back and then kissed him with all her might. "Love you, Atticus," She said, and he smiled at her.

"Love you too, Scout,"

The next day, Uncle Jack was scheduled to leave, but not until after Jem came home from school. He packed all day, and Scout helped him since there wasn't much else to do. Atticus had gone to work, and Dr. Reynolds still wouldn't let her return to school. Her teacher would stop by and bring Scout her work, and both Atticus and Uncle Jack would help her complete it, and Jem would return it.

Sometimes her teacher would stay for a little while and teach Scout some of the things they were learning in class. With all of this, Scout was staying up-to-date with the class happenings. Sometimes Cecil Jacobs would stop by and tell her all of the gossip and who fought who, but that was pretty rare. He wouldn't be caught dead being nice to a girl who could beat him up.

Jem came home from school, and helped Uncle Jack put his luggage in the car. Atticus came home soon afterwards, and Scout ran to meet him, as usual. He swung her into his arms and kept walking.

"When can I go back to school, Atticus?" She asked him, and he was so stunned he stopped moving.

"I thought you were determined to stay out of school forever," Atticus said as he continued to carry her to the house.

"Well, it's better than staying home all the time. With Uncle Jack we could play games and read and everything, but since he's leaving I'll be so bored,"

"You'll have Calpurnia," Atticus reminded her.

"I know, and she's a lot of fun, but she's busy during the day and I don't want to bother her. Helping her to cook is fun, but I can't just do that all day long," Scout complained, and Atticus laughed.

"I'll work something out, Scout, don't worry," He said as he climbed the steps onto the porch and let Scout down.

They sat down to dinner a few moments later, and then Uncle Jack said goodbye to Calpurnia. He then went across the street and bade farewell to Miss Maudie, who actually gave him a hug. Then she proceeded to shove him onto his backside when he got down on one knee and proposed to her for the umpteenth time.

"One day she'll say yes," Uncle Jack joked to Atticus as he came back across the street, wiping the dirt off of his butt.

"Yeah, whatever you say, Jack," Atticus said, shaking his head at his younger brother. They all climbed into the car and headed off to the train station.

When Uncle Jack had his luggage loaded onto the train, he turned back to his brother. "Take care, big brother," Uncle Jack said, giving him a hug. Atticus nodded as he hugged Uncle Jack tightly.

"You too, little brother,"

Then Uncle Jack turned to Jem and shook his hand before hugging him. "Don't get yourself hurt by playing football, you hear?" Uncle Jack said sternly, and Jem rolled his eyes.

"I won't, Uncle Jack,"

"Yeah right," He snorted, and then turned to Scout who had a sad expression on her face and she wouldn't take her eyes off of the ground. "Are you going to tell me goodbye?" Uncle Jack asked, kneeling down in front of her.

"Bye Uncle Jack," Scout said finally, and then flung her arms around his neck. "I don't want you to go," She said quietly, and Uncle Jack rubbed her back.

"Hey, remember what I said? I'll be back before you know it, for Christmas," He said soothingly, and Scout nodded.

"All right. You promise?"

"Cross my heart, hope to die," Uncle Jack swore, and Scout grinned at him. "I'll miss you, baby," Uncle Jack said and kissed her forehead as the conductor announced,

"All aboard!"

"I suppose that's my cue. Goodbye!" Uncle Jack said as he hopped on the train, and waved to them. Atticus raised his hand in farewell, while Scout and Jem waved until they couldn't see Uncle Jack hanging out of the window anymore.

In the car ride home, Atticus glanced in the mirror at his children in the backseat. "Why are you two so quiet?" He asked, and neither responded. When he took a closer look, he realized that they were both asleep. Atticus drove the rest of the way home with a slight smile on his face.

He pulled into the driveway and parked the car, getting out and carrying Jem inside to his bedroom, tucking him in and turning the light out. Then he went back for Scout and carried her inside, laying her in her bed and tucking her in. He kissed her cheek before turning the light out and heading for his own bed.

Scout was allowed to return to school more than a week later, and she hurriedly ate her breakfast before kissing Atticus on the cheek and dashing off with Jem right behind her. When she came home that night, she was happy but kept complaining about school all over again.

Atticus came home an hour or so later, and when she jumped in his arms she was chattering about what happened in school and about how she never wanted to go back. Neither Jem nor Scout could figure out why Atticus was grinning.

In truth, it was because everything was back to normal. Uncle Jack was back home, Scout was trying to find a way out of going to school and Jem was obsessed with football and kept talking about it. And Scout and Jem were bickering and fighting all the time again.

Though one night, after Jem and Scout had gotten into a small fist-fight, he took Jem aside. "Now I know that Scout started the fight, Jem, but you have to be the bigger man here. Scout is still injured, and if she reopens her wounds then it could be very bad. Do you understand what I'm saying, son?"

"Yes sir, I understand," Jem said, though the next time Scout wanted to fight, it was hard for him to not give in. He just walked away, leaving Scout pouting.

A week after Scout was allowed to return to school, Atticus got home to find Scout was the only one running to greet him. "You have to come see, Atticus, you have to come see!" She said excitedly, grabbing his hand and pulling him down the street. Atticus just laughed and let his daughter pull him around to the back of the house.

He saw Jem standing there, and he walked up to stand next to him. "What're we looking at?" Atticus asked, glancing down at his son.

"That," Jem said reverently, pointing across the yard. Atticus looked up to see the sun beginning to set in one of the most brilliant ones he had ever seen. Atticus bent down and scooped Scout up, and then laid an arm around Jem's shoulders.

Scout burrowed into his arms and Jem rested his head against his side as the family of three watched the sun go down. The big ball of light slowly sank below the horizon, but not before giving off a spectacular show of reds, oranges, yellows, pinks, purples and many other colors.

Atticus knew that if he lifted up his daughter's shirt, he would see the ugly scars left behind by Bob Ewell's kitchen knife, a lasting reminder of how close he'd come to losing her. And he also knew that if he looked at Jem's arm closely enough, there were small reminders of how Bob Ewell had attacked his children and broken them.

However, Atticus knew by looking at the sunset that the ugly things in life weren't the only things that deserved attention. There were remarkable things in life that needed to be focused on, and he couldn't just focus on the terrible and the what-ifs in life. Yes, Scout could have died, and Jem could've died as well. In fact, there were many instances in which Scout could have died. Atticus lived in fear for a long time that she would die. If truth be told, he was still scared. He was scared when she ran off to go to school, when she ran off to play with her friends. She became even more breakable in his eyes after the attack that autumn evening.

Atticus could feel Scout's heart beating against his chest. He knew she was alive, and he also knew that she was a strong person. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and that was absolutely true in Scout's case. Scout fought like hell for her life, and she deserved a break. Sure there were many ugly things in the world that could hurt or even kill his children.

But Atticus refused to focus on those anymore. Yes, life was not always beautiful, and it would never be truly beautiful the way it should be.

But it is a beautiful ride.

**And now we have come to the conclusion of this story! I want to thank all of you lovely readers and reviewers who saw this story until the end and kept me going with your encouraging reviews, I love you all! I hope you have enjoyed this story, and thank you so much for reading!**


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